Rising Dough
by pride-and-loyalty
Summary: Annabeth decides she needs to get away from her ex, Luke. So she moves to a new city and starts working at a pizza place because of their famous Olives of Athens Pizza. Guess who is the only chef that works the whole day? Percy.
1. Chapter 1

**Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii guys! I did not fall off the face of the earth! Yay! How are you? This is my second (actual) fic and it's way better than my first one, which was horribly inaccurate and had some overriding plot lines. This one will be a lot more fun to write and for you guys to read.**

 **Enjoy!**

Annabeth

Annabeth can't walk through her apartment without seeing Luke Castellan.

Pictures of him hung in the hallways. Her bedroom walls were painted to look like his eyes. Memories, like an unwelcome guest, sat on every piece of furniture she owned. There was even a set of silverware and a mug for him in the kitchen.

Annabeth had considered doing a symbolic/spiritual breakup purging that appeared in the _Herald_ , and then decided that nothing good came out of the magazine she worked at. Besides, she'd need to buy a whole other house in order to "thoroughly cleanse the soul of dirty male influence".

But she could never stand to be at home when it was like this. So she turned to something she could easily immerse herself in: work.

This required a complete change in her schedule, though. Work started at eight, and she changed her alarm to an hour and a half beforehand instead of 7:50. It seemed like a great idea and all before Annabeth couldn't wake up that morning.

She wallowed in bed for about ten minutes before her internal debate dragged her out of bed. In the bathroom, she tossed the fancy passion fruit and flower soap that Luke liked into the trash can and unburied a bar of white soap from the sink cabinet. After the shower she smelled neat and clean, like a quiet girl who always did what she was told to. At least that was what Annabeth was hoping to achieve. Her days of slacking off and daydreaming about Luke were over.

At her closet she decided to pick an outfit that mimicked what the other girls at the magazine wore. That included a crisp button-down, a dark pencil skirt, and silky stockings. While a lot of the girls wore kitten heels, Annabeth had enough of high heels from dating Luke and decided to go with a pair of flats instead.

In the mornings she normally had a hot dog or a soft pretzel from a park on her way to work, but Annabeth decided to assemble a full breakfast. She got a croissant from the bakery down the block, a steaming cup of coffee from her favorite cafe, and even folded an ancient napkin under her fork. She ate slowly, since she had plenty of time, and then strolled down the streets to the _Herald_ 's work building.

Annabeth had to stifle her laughter when Marissa, the girl at the front desk, openly gawped as she came in early. Annabeth flashed the girl a small grin and headed for the elevator.

She had planned to spend the extra twenty minutes getting a head start on her article, but instead used it to trash all the pictures of Luke taped to her laptop and scratch out all the date nights labeled on her calendar. She was so focused at ripping up all the little notes from Luke that were once adoringly stored in a cupboard that she didn't notice all her coworkers staring at her in shock as they went into the office.

Finally she cleared up her work area and started typing up the mind-numbing article assigned to her. She almost dozed off in the middle of it when heels clicked to a stop by her desk. "Hello?" A nasal voice asked impatiently.

Annabeth looked up to see Drew, the head editor's assistant. She was scowling and looking mad as usual. "What do you want?" Annabeth asked boredly.

"Hera wants to see you," Drew replied smugly. "Come on, get to it."

Annabeth heaved a sigh and trudged over to the main office. There was a wide desk in the middle that was impossibly neat. One wall hosted a filled bookshelf, and the other had pictures of Hera herself. The far wall was a window, but the curtains were always drawn. Hera preferred things to be dark.

"Annabeth," the editor greeted coolly, waving a hand for Drew to disappear. The grouchy assistant disappeared without a word, because even she was afraid of the head editor. Hera was impeccably dressed as usual, with her dark hair pulled back in a severe bun. She always applied heavy makeup, but it didn't mask her pointy nose or thin lips. The peacock blue eyeshadow, especially, made her dark-enough-to-be-black eyes more frightening instead of appearing youthful.

Annabeth wordlessly took a seat in one of the small plastic chairs that were meant to make Hera's staff feel like kindergarteners. Her heart beat frantically in her rib cage.

"I've been tracking your work. You really need to improve, Annabeth." The editor leaned in closer and Annabeth was assaulted by thick floral perfume. "You're holding a very precious position on this magazine, and there's a long list waiting to take your place. Don't waste it. I know that if you truly put in your best effort, well…" Hera paused for a few seconds. "You would do better," she finished awkwardly.

Annabeth blushed, but instead of embarrassment, she felt anger spark in her veins. Hera was just under the illusion that people actually read the _Herald_. If Annabeth dropped out, no one would take her place willingly. Besides, who cared about doing the best they could? Everyone in staff wrote sucky articles.

Hera was continuing her lecture, but Annabeth chose to tune her out. She just sat back in her chair and waited for her to finish.

"Are you even listening?" Hera snapped.

Annabeth blinked, before widening her eyes innocently. A small voice from the back of her head sneered in disgust at her current actions, but she ignored it. "Yes, of course." She struggled to keep her voice calm.

Hera sighed like the world was weighing on her shoulders, or perhaps, more accurately, like she was an angst-filled teenager. "You're dismissed from my office, Ms. Chase. I sent two new articles to your inbox. Please improve your performance, or find somewhere else where you can slack off and still get paid."

Annabeth nodded and trudged out of the office. Drew smirked at her frown, but Annabeth ignored her. Through the burning ball of defiance in her throat she felt guilt and panic sear through her nerves. Even if she hated her job didn't mean it wasn't her only source of money. Nostalgia murmured in her ears. Back when she was a freshman in college her future was rich with opportunities. She had outstanding grades that got her a scholarship to college and university, no doubt it would pave the path to being an architect, her dream job. And then Luke came into her life.

Annabeth was so drawn by those eyes of those that glittered in the sun and warmed her to the core in the coldest of winters. She wanted to get to know him, and when he started liking her back, her soul literally sang with joy. She was so focused on falling in love her grades were abandoned, and now she was working at a minimum-wage magazine. Gag.

Annabeth finally reached her table and opened up a new document on her laptop, refreshing the page with her inbox in hopes that the article be shown through the horrid Wi-Fi. After an era later, the assignments popped up. One article about healthy living by making completely vegan and fat-free tacos. The other one was about how studies say climbing was not so great for your knees. Annabeth stifled a yawn and began typing.

The rest of the week was the same day repeated over and over, minus the meetings. Hera did not have the patience to deal with someone that many times. Annabeth finished the two horrific articles along with the earlier one, received new ones, and then were handed back printed copies of the taco one with elegant pink cursive looping all over the words. It was Drew who edited them. Figures.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, Annabeth decided she needed a break. She went to a grocery store, splurged changed for a tub of ice cream, and settled herself on the beat-down sofa. But immediately as she took a seat memories washed over her. Luke sitting beside her, his arm wrapped around her like a blanket. Luke popping pieces of popcorn into his mouth and playing with her hair. She remembered too vividly when he once hooked his calf around hers and she collapsed into his chest, heart racing. In fact, Annabeth was once leaning on him, lifting a tub of the same brand of rocky road up to his mouth.

She shuddered at the memories and locked herself in the bathroom, taking out a pack of bath sea salts from a cupboard and inhaling it. The smell of the sea seeped through her, smoothing out her tense limbs. Sea salt, or anything that smelled like the sea soothed her. She sank into the side of the bathtub, clutching the salts to her chest. All of a sudden, her only reminder of the ocean seemed like the most precious thing she owned.

 **There! Chapter one done! Argh I'm pushing back so much homework for this.**

 **Au revoir,**

 **Pride-and-loyalty**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back, guys! How long was I gone? My goal is to update every week, which I miraculously did! Don't expect me to keep on track with that though, since sometimes I** _ **start**_ **a chapter the next week but not actually finish it. No matter, it's here now. It's so weird though.**

 **Enjoy!**

Annabeth

Annabeth tucked her cold feet under her leg, then shivered at the simultaneous warmth sinking into her feet and the coldness reaching her thigh. She shifted around before deciding she was too frozen to move. With a sigh, Annabeth turned back to her laptop. The cursor blinked on the empty page, reprimanding her.

She stared at the page until the battery symbol flashed warningly. She crept out of her chair, numbness prickling at her legs, to find the charger behind her desk. Annabeth emerged out with the charger before her feet got tangled in an abandoned cardigan. She went crashing to the floor.

Annabeth's first instinct was to push herself up before she started thinking, _I'm cold._ So she laid there forlornly against the scratchy blue carpet, annoyed and tired and panicked. She let herself stare into space for a while until a voice inside her head screamed, _Do something!_

Annabeth got up, plugged in her computer, then wrapped herself in her blankets. She stared at the sweaters on the floor of her closet but stubbornly refused to put them on.

It was fall now. Annabeth couldn't pay for the heater, and none of the sweaters bought back good memories. She'd bought them with Luke. They were either handpicked by him or in his favorite colors. But it was getting too cold for simply layering shirts.

Groaning, she hit her head repeatedly on the headboard of her bed. "What are you doing, Annabeth?" she hissed to herself. She finally let herself explore how pointless this all was. She wasn't working on her article. She was freezing herself because she wanted to forget Luke. And the sane Annabeth had slipped through the cracks. All she was doing nowadays was spacing out and murmuring to herself. Annabeth needed a purpose.

The gears of her brain creaked, slowly but surely. She started assembling a list of choices, feeling like herself for the first time since she dated Luke Castellan. Her eyes took in her room, with its sky blue paint and all the fuzzy toys Luke bought her. Annabeth wanted a new room. Her eyes landed on her laptop. No, she needed a new job indefinitely. Her brain spun out ideas faster and faster. A job would pay for a new room, new clothes. Eventually, even a new home. But…..where?

Annabeth hugged her pillow to her chest and spent the whole afternoon pondering her plan. Finally she settled on something. Satisfied, she changed into pajamas and fell into a light, dreamless sleep.

Her inner clock still counted down, subconsciously, what day it was when Annabeth passed her calendar. Twenty-two days from the breakup. She shook her head to clear away the thoughts and stuck a bagel in the toaster.

Then, she hunted out an number from her wide list of contacts on her ancient phone.

"Sadie?"

There were some muffled sounds before a thick British accent answered the phone. "Yeah, who is this?"

"I'm– I'm not sure if you remember me–"

"I can try."

"Oh." Annabeth paused, nervous. "I'm your friend from back in college, in the sophomore year. Um, Annabeth?"

There was silence on the phone. Then a slow exhale. "Oh my gosh, Annabeth? Seriously? You're still around? Sorry, I didn't mean that–oh , what am I saying?" A breathy laugh.

Annabeth chuckled now that the tension was gone. "No, it's okay, I don't mind. I'm calling with a favor to ask. Is that okay?"

She could feel Sadie grinning on the other end. "Depends on the favor." There were the scratchy sounds of a hand covering the receiver and a muffled, "Go away, Carter!" before Sadie returned.

"Okay, well, this is kind of embarrassing, and I'm so sorry, but…..I need a loan from you." There was silence, but Annabeth charged on before she lost her nerve. "Not much. I swear I'll pay you back in a few months. Five, I'm sure. I'll give you my address and everything so you can remind me if I forget. But I won't forget. Just for safety precautions, you know. So you can feel better, like, assured."

Sadie laughed. "It's okay, I get it. But, come on, Annabeth. You're the most trustworthy person I know. And organized enough to never forget anything." Annabeth blushed. She was hardly the same neat person she was back in college. "Of course I'll give you the loan," Sadie continued. "You don't have to worry about paying me back. I mean, we're friends, not business partners."

Annabeth almost dropped the phone in surprise. "Really? I mean, really? You're the greatest friend ever, Sadie."

"Oh, please. It's sad, though. We need to stay in contact."

"Yes, definitely." They chatted for a while, sorted out the arrangement, and Annabeth hung up while grinning.

She picked the slightly burned bagel from the toaster and set it on a plate. Things were already looking up.

A week later, almost every detail was completed. She found a tiny one-room apartment with a shared bathroom. The other owner, a girl named Lou Ellen, seemed nice from a short online chatting session. Her new home was in the next town over, right where Annabeth planned to start her new life. The train ticket was bought, and all her things were packed up and ready. The landlord would come over the next day to take her keys. And the job she found was rather incredible.

 _A few days ago_

 _Annabeth slipped into a gray sweater from the very bottom of her closet and settled by her laptop. She had opened up several sites for job openings and even found the online newspaper for the town she was moving too._

 _It was a boring morning, where she went through option after option. Some of the regulations didn't fit her, and many of the shift hours were too unreasonable. And the pay for most of them were a no-no if she wanted to pay Sadie back within five months. She almost settled for a travel agent before the person on the phone said the spot was taken. Finally she found a good choice. A register at a real estate company. It would probably be boring, but at least she could work on her long-abandoned sketches in the meantime. She was about to call the number before a bright orange square caught her eye._

" _Grace's Pizza Place," it proclaimed. "A homey restaurant on the edge of Sound St., with chef-personalized pizzas and adorable decor, Grace's is a new yet familiar addition to this town. We are a favorite of multiple families in the area that bustles with diner-size crowds instead of cramped tables. Our waiters are friendly and the chefs are extraordinarily creative. For instance, the illustrious Olives of Athens Pizza with olives arranged in the shape of the Parthenon that will leave anyone dreaming of Ancient Greece._ _Full-day chef needed."_

Olives _, her head whispered. Her favorite food, which Luke once made fun of her for liking on a date, so she completely forgot them. Annabeth reentered the numbers for the pizza shop into her phone and called them. On the seventh ring, a girl picked up._

" _Hello? This is Grace's Pizza Place. What would you like?" The girl had an accent Annabeth couldn't place, and spoke slightly roughly, like she had a hard history._

" _Um, this is Annabeth Chase. I'd like to sign up for the job as a full-day chef."_

 _There was a delighted gasp and a muffled shout. "Hi, Annabeth. Thank you. The sign-up sheets are–" The phone was snatched away from her._

" _Hi, this is Annabeth, right?" A deeper male voice entered the phone. His voice resounded in her gut strangely. Blood rushed in her ears, drowning out the sound of the girl from before yelling at him. "Your name is so cool. So, you're signing up? I can't wait to meet you. Oh, by the way, I'm Percy Jackson."_

 **Argh, I'm so excited! I want to go ahead and start working on the next chapter. But, for the sack of tradition and my homework, (though I'm on break so who cares) I won't. You guys should have school, but I live across the world, and we had a holiday yesterday. So I still have tomorrow off. Then, school on Sunday. *grimace* If, you guys guess where I live I'll let you design a pizza. It has to fit in with the cooks, though. (No, Zoe/wacky friend/soap box actor no jk, you can't guess.) Alright, I'll finish with my rambling.**

 **Au revoir,**

 **Pride-and-loyalty**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! How are you all? Reading lots of other nice stories while I don't post? Hehe. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. I'm switching the perspective a little just to explain the cast and setting and etc. more clearly.**

 **Enjoy!**

Selina

"Order up! One half pepperoni, half every topping," Leo called out from the serving window. He sounded a bit deflated, which Selina didn't know was possible. Maybe Malcolm threw out all his energy drinks, which took up most of the pantry, in the morning.

Miranda rushed over, tugging at the hem of her sky-blue waitress top. She offered Leo a distracted smile before picking up the steaming pie. "Oh, Selina, can you clean up Arty? The customers didn't finish most of their drinks. Thanks," Miranda said to her.

Instead of numbering the tables in the shop, the crew named them after Greek deities, based on the small ceramic statue in their middle. "Arty" was short for the table with Artemis, who was stretching out one arm while pulling a bow from her quiver with the other.

Selina crossed the mostly-empty room to Artemis, her black waitress uniform skirt flaring with each step. She stacked the plates and glasses on the tray and started wiping down the scratched metal surface. At an annoyed groan she raised her head and found Thalia sprawled in a chair across the table. The punk rock waitress' favorite hangout was either Artemis, or the kitchen when Nico was free.

"Selina, how are you still working?" Thalia tilted her spiky black head, raising a glass of Coke to her dark lips.

Selina grinned. "Because it's only seven. You're talking over, Pinecone." She set the tray by Thalia and headed over to staff-only back hallway. A familiar broad-shouldered shape was in the side, poking at some wires in the wall.

"Charlie!" she called, a wide smile taking over her face. Giddiness burbled in her throat as he turned to her. Grinning, Selina raced over and allowed herself to be enveloped in a hug. "Can you wait for closing time?" She asked, leaning on the wall beside what he was working on. "I can't."

Charlie smiled down at her. "It's only thirty minutes until, Selina. We'll have plenty of time for our date."

She pouted, trying to be cute. "Lacy left already. Lucky girl."

"Hey! Stop messing around, you two! Hermes wants a check!" They spun around to see Clarisse glaring in their direction. "I might as well be the only one working here since Daisy's watering her plants and Emo Girl took a nap. " The roughest waitress in Grace's Pizza Place always stood out in her army cargos, bulky boots, and ever-present vengeful expression. For some particular reason, she was carrying a small knife from the kitchen. Selina decided to not question it.

"Aren't we closing already?" she sighed as she headed down the hall. "This is ridiculous."

Calypso stuck her dark brown head out of the serving window. "Not as ridiculous as this —" She muttered something in Minoan and gestured to Leo. "He burned half a pie."

The curly-haired elf stepped over, ready with a comeback, but was cut off by Clarisse's growl. "I cannot stand you guys." She stormed off, clutching her knife. Selina hesitated for a second before scurrying behind her. There were still gouge marks on Apollo last time Frank, one of the morning chefs, accidentally tripped her. They didn't get any more customers that day.

Reyna propped her elbows on the front counter, looking past the statue of a chubby diaper-wearing baby labeled "Peaches". Katie, one of the morning waitresses, saw it at a yard sale and fell in love. "What's going on?" Reyna expressionlessly stared at the waitresses, her dark eyes as hard as stone.

"Clarisse's mad again," Miranda piped up from the window ledge plants. Selina had no idea how so much greenery grew under such a tiny window.

"Shut it," Clarisse snapped. Miranda shrugged, unfazed, and returned to watering the leafy mass.

Reyna looked like she would've rolled her eyes if she was less stern. With one last cold stare, she returned to behind the counter.

Eventually, the three awake waitresses settled down at Iris with glasses of lemon tea after the last customer left. "Been a pretty uneventful week, right?"

Miranda shrugged. "Does Mrs. O'Leary giving the elderly customers a heart attack by chasing down a squirrel count?"

Selina laughed. "I guess there is no such thing as uneventful at Grace's Pizza Place. But I totally missed out on that. When was it?"

"When you were in the back, chatting with Beckendorf," Clarisse offered with a smirk.

Selina pursed her lips. "Okay, maybe."

A loud whoop sounded from the kitchen, causing Thalia to startle out of her chair. She screeched, annoyed, from the floor.

Percy loped out of the kitchen, grinning ear-to-ear. "It's seven-thirty! Closing time!" He whooped again and did a little dance.

"Woah," Jason, the manager, said when he emerged from the back hallway opening. "Don't get carried away, bro." They did their complex fist-bump before he continued. "We've still got a short staff meeting. Everyone in my office!"

They collectively groaned while filing into his tiny office and crammed onto the two worn couches. Thalia leaned forward to snatch Jason's brick mug from his desk, almost dislodging herself from her spot. "This is so cute," she teased.

Jason rolled his eyes. "It's was Piper's anniversary gift. Anyways, as some of you may know, there's a surprise coming tomorrow. We've got a new member."

Percy bounced on the couch, releasing grumbles from everyone else sitting by him. "The nice girl on the phone? Annabeth?"

Reyna glared over at him. "Yes, the one who I was having an interrupted conversation with."

Percy shrugged apologetically. "She sounded so cool, like a professional chef. Definitely better than Leo. I can't wait for someone new on staff."

Thalia, who was leaning on Nico, spoke up. "Yeah, me too. You guys are boring." She squeezed Nico's hand to let him know he wasn't included.

Selina turned to them and clapped excitedly. "How cute!"

Clarisse shoved her, lightly, since her normal shove knocked people through walls. "We don't need to hear that, Selina. Can we go now?"

Jason straightened his glasses. "Yeah, sure. Come on time tomorrow. We want Annabeth to have a good impression."

 _Too bad_ , Selina thought when she picked up her purse and left with Charlie. _There isn't much that can prepare you for Grace's Pizza Place._

 **And that's a wrap. Sorry I'm kind of tired right now and I need to go to the bathroom so excuse mistakes. And review guys, review! Seriously, you don't know how much that helps.**

 **Au revoir,**

 **Pride-and-loyalty.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi my math homework reminded me I need to post. So, here it is. Will reply to reviews next chapter.**

Hazel

"Take out the frozen chicken nuggets, Hazel," Frank grunted from over the oven. Percy and Malcolm assigned him to lift pizzas in and out of the ancient brick oven because "he got in the way". Obviously, she didn't agree, but even more obviously didn't wouldn't listen.

Hazel headed over to the freezer and heard a crash when she opened the heavy-duty metal door. A brown-striped shaped darted behind a shelf. Frowning, she stepped inside. "Hello?"

There was no reply. She rounded over to the shelf and saw the same blur disappear into air. She realized what was going on. "Stolls? What?"

There was silence. Hazel rolled her eyes and went to the giant bucket of nuggets. The janitors were adorable at first with their curly hair and matching overalls. For only about a millisecond though. Immediately after you saw their devious grins and the corner of your wallet disappearing behind their back.

"Guys, please don't mess up the storage. Piper just took inventory yesterday." The waitress didn't appreciate doing things over. With a sigh, she headed out of the freezer. "Frank, I have the nuggets."

"Here, I'll take them." Malcolm appeared in front of her, a half-sliced mushroom in hand. He paused after seeing the tub. "Can you microwave them first? Also, get to the peppers and olives. Your gumbo stuff is done, right?"

"Yeah." She ticked the ingredients off in her head. "I also did all the 'normal' ingredients. Blue pizza is all on Percy again, so that leaves us done."

There were five specialty pizzas. Blue pizza from Percy, Happy Meal pizza from Nico, Gumbo pizza by her, Super McShizzle Team Leo Pizza (no explanation needed), and Olives of Athens from Malcolm. Unfortunately, most of them required a lot of ingredients or special skills.

Frank stopped fiddling with the oven's opening. "Depends on if Leo did prep work last night."

"That's a no," Malcolm groaned. "I'll get to them after the mushrooms and fake trees."

Hazel checked the clock before rushing to the counter. Opening time was soon, and everything needed to be prepped. "We don't need that many peppers, right?" Malcolm was busy lining up the olives beside her chopping board and didn't reply.

Opening time came upon them in a surprise. Many people came that morning and left the brick-shaped tip jar stuffed. Hazel was piling cilantro and then taco sauce on a Super McShizzle pizza dough when Piper came into the kitchen. Her black waitress skirt got stuck on the doorway for a second, revealing the dark staff hallway. Silence elapsed back into the room once she closed the door.

"Guys, our new worker is here. She's met all the waitresses already, so I'll bring her in immediately," Piper told them.

Annabeth

 _A few minutes ago_

She checked her printed sheet of paper once again for the address. The store was right down the block. She passed a small spa and a grocery and some other stores before reaching the spot. It was the same homey, random shop she expected, with giant yellow letters on the front reading "Grace's Pizza Place."

With a small breath, she pushed open the door before hearing a soft tinkle. It sounded like a good omen. Annabeth surveyed the shop. The front of the shop had a rundown couch with bits taken out, leaving stuffing sticking out of the seats like cottony volcanic lava. To the left was a narrow front desk with a freakish diaper-wearing baby statue labeled "Peaches". Beside that was a hollowed brick filled with coins. A wishing well?

Behind the desk was a stern and collected woman. She had dark hair pulled back in a braid, smooth olive skin, and black eyes studying her laptop emotionlessly. Annabeth was suddenly reminded of a young herself who looked as calculating and smart. Now she was the post-breakup girl.

Nevertheless, she walked up to the counter. "Hi, I'm Annabeth Chase," she said in her stillest voice. "I was the one who applied for a full-day chef."

The woman glanced up, her eyes filming with iciness. "Excuse me?"

Annabeth flinched, then blushed with embarrassment. "I was the one who sent you my application through email a week ago. I was accepted in my reply," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

The woman's face slowly broke from stone to a neutral expression. "Oh, yes." She stood up and shook Annabeth's hand. "I'm Reyna, this store's cashier. I also run a lot of the formal affairs. Katie!"

A brownish-blond glanced over, a packed tray in her arms. She mouthed, "Wait" and set down a few blue pizzas before heading over.

"Hi, Reyna. How can I help?" Annabeth noticed Katie smelled like a garden full of herbs and that her sneakers had grass stains on them. She was also smiling even though she wasn't serving anymore. _She must get the most tips_ , Annabeth guessed in her head.

Reyna gestured to Annabeth. "Our new day chef is here. Annabeth Chase. Take her to the staff, please."

Katie glanced from the corner of her eye at the people waving from their tables. "Yes, of course. I'll have to hurry, though, since it's the lunch rush. Sorry, Annabeth." She offered her an apologetic smile before turning to Reyna. "But I don't handle big affairs. Wouldn't Piper be better at this?" She tilted her head to a tan waitress studiously writing down a full table's orders.

Reyna smiled tightly. "Of, you're right. Why don't you take Annabeth to her and replace her. I have work to do." To punctuate her point, she sat down and started typing on her laptop again.

Katie turned to Annabeth with a shrug and took her elbow. Once they were out of earshot, Katie murmured, "Don't mind her. She's really stern, but actually pretty nice if she gets to know you." Her voice dipped lower. "She doesn't like Piper. I had to mention her, because she deals with the big things." Her voice went back to normal, and she released Annabeth's elbow. "And here she is."

Piper, who just finished with her table, looked over at them and cocked her head. A scruffy brown braid with hanging feathers slipped over her shoulder. "Hi, Katie. And who is this?" she asked, watching Annabeth with her stunning multicolored eyes.

"Annabeth. She's a new worker. Can you introduce her to the staff? I'll take over your tables."

Piper smiled. "Thanks, Katie. Alright, Annabeth, follow me." She led her to the back door and down the staff hallway. "The first door is Jason's office. Check in with him. He's the manager, Jason Grace, and my boyfriend." She flashed Annabeth a cheeky grin before heading into the kitchen.

Annabeth knocked on the door and headed in after a deep, "Come in."

The office was snug, with a wide bookshelf and a small desk where Jason sat at. He looked like the All-American poster boy, with neat blond hair and warm blue eyes, enlarged by a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. He wore a pressed button-down and khakis, but the strange brick mug sort of ruined the effect. "Hi, you must be Annabeth," he said.

She nodded. "Yep. Piper told me to check in."

"Alright." Jason grinned, revealing perfect teeth. "You're free to go."

She nodded again and walked out and, after a pause, went into the kitchen.

Three faces stared at her. One was a dark and freckled, with two golden pupils. The short girl had frizzy brown hair and a small surprised smile. The second one was a cross between a baby panda and a sumo wrestler. He was Asian and stood tall by the stove. And the last face took her breath away. She had never seen eyes so green before.

 **Ha ha ha I'm leaving you guys in the middle of the plot. Okay, I have to go to sleep now (yes, I sleep really early).**

 **Thanks for the reviews, though. I wish I had time to reply, and I will soon. Okay, maybe I'll post another chap tomorrow cuz this one was cut short and I haven't posted in a while.**

 **SORRYYYYYYYYYY**

 **Au revoir,**

 **Pride-and-loyalty**


	5. Chapter 5

**Um, hi guys! I know this is so late that a bunch of you have been kidnapped by aliens and the apocalypse happened. No, just kidding. The world won't end like that. I do have a good excuse. Exams. I still have one, but that's a while later. Anyways, in this one I replied to all your reviews. Hopefully some of you guys have not entered retirement yet and utterly forgot about me. (Very unlikely, though.)**

 **Okay, so, yeah. Enjoy.**

Annabeth

Ten years ago, Annabeth was toddling out to the patio when she halted to a stop. Her eyes had stretched comically wide in surprise. The Pacific was right over by their beach house, and that morning it was so beautiful that she remembered it after all these years. Pale green waves surged to the sky, their rims foaming and sides marbled and rough. They crashed down with flair, like tall towers diving back into a shaky terrain. The waves roared each time they came up, proclaiming power and majesty each time they hung, suspended, in the air. When they fell, it sounded like thundering applause to the display. One by one, they marched towards the shore, sinking into calmer blue waves. But the erupting and uncontrollable waves were the most elegant. They rose and fell in a hurried line, just like her awed breaths.

Looking into those eyes reminded her of that day. They were every bit as gorgeous as the ocean, drawing her in senselessly with the power of a siren. Her emotions danced around inside her, charged with excitement.

Someone coughed at her shoulder. She spun around, sighing inwardly when she stopped seeing the green eyes, and saw Piper staring at her with dry amusement. "Well," she drawled, a smirk tugging at the edge of her full lips, "I see you like our cook."

Annabeth's cheeks flamed. "What? Um, no! I just-I just…" she sputtered to a stop.

Piper squeezed her arm. "As a friend, sweetie." She tilted her head clandestinely, her expression saying, _Oh, I know what's going on_. Annabeth, out of the blue, realized the waitress' eyes were flashing mint. Bizarre.

"I think we should introduce ourselves," the nimble, curly-haired cook piped up. "I'm Hazel. This is Frank." She pointed to the tall and heavyset Asian boy. "And the last one Percy." Her once-delicate and innocent features twitched teasingly. Annabeth blushed again before pinching herself. What was up with her?

Piper folded her arms, appearing professional once again, though she still wore a suggestive smirk. "Hazel and Frank are the morning cooks. Leo and Calypso, who'll come in a few hours, cook for the afternoon and night. We only serve at lunch and dinner, so work starts at eight. Um… when are the shift times again?"

Hazel laughed. "Spent too many entire days here? First shift is eight to one, second is one to seven thirty. But, since you're a full-day cook, you have both shifts."

Piper leaned in slightly. "And Percy's the only other full-day cook."

Annabeth bit her lip. She knew that already, but now it was clear she was going to embarrass herself so badly.

A brown-haired waitress stuck her head in through the serving window. The kitchen actually stretched behind Jason's office, so the serving window was right across from the staff hallway's open door. "Hello? Where's the food?"

Frank shook himself. "Sorry, Lou Ellen. Where are the orders?"

Hazel pointed to the kitchen island. "Right there." She squinted at the small papers. "Okay, three Leos, a Percy, a medium Hawaiian, and six Fanta bottles. Percy, get the doughs out. Annabeth, go get the Fanta and I'll explain the rest."

She wandered over to the drink fridge in the back and lifted out five freezing bottles. While she collected them, she noticed a robust wall of blue Coke in the back. What?

When she placed the Fanta onto the trays, Hazel pulled her over to the counter, right by Percy. "Okay, Leo's pizzas are the hardest. We have the recipe on the wall over there. Percy, demonstrate. I'll start with the Hawaiian. It gets cold easily."

Percy turned to her with a small smile. "Well, hi, Annabeth." He turned to the various bowls of food and surveyed them, looking slightly overwhelmed. "So, for any pizza we start with tomato sauce, then cheese." He grabbed two pizza doughs from a pile and set them on the counter. "Have you made pizza at home?"

Annabeth shook her head. Luke always asked her to order in. She watched Percy carefully ladle sauce onto the dough, studying the pattern he poured with. He handed her the spoon, still warm from his hands, causing her to blush a little, and patiently waited for her to finish.

"You're a quick learner," he noted jokingly. "Okay, so make sure you sprinkle the cheese evenly. Yeah, like that. So, since Leo's pizzas are based on tacos, next we have chopped onions…"

Annabeth was a quick learner. She followed his instructions without fail, though with one misstep. They were by the grill, placing down a few jalapeños, when a drop of juice hopped onto her arm. She winced and gritted her teeth. Percy sprang into motion, carefully dabbing her arm with a cold cloth. He stared at her. "Are you alright?"

She was about to reply before realizing he was holding her arm. Surprise, heavily tingled with content, slipped through her mind. A small, happy, smile played on her lips.

Suddenly Percy was bending down a little, his green eyes finding hers. His vivid stare gave her a weightless feeling, as if she was floating in the soothing music of the sea. "Annabeth?"

Her smile diluted. She blinked away her adoring haze. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are the jalapeños done?"

He gently let go of her arm, his long fingers uncurling in a wordless goodbye, to flip a pepper. "Almost," he answered, his eyes still trained on her.

The Leos smelled incredible when they came out. Even Frank beamed at the steaming ground beef. Percy handed her a lemon wedge from the fruit bowl (the kitchen wasn't awfully organized, which Hazel apologized for earlier) and told her to squeeze generously. He then left for a cheese grater.

Someone brushed through the door. It was an impervious redhead, her brows drawn in determination and her face annoyed. Her waitress uniform was askew, and her sneakers were unexplainably paint-splattered. She headed straight for Percy. "Percy," she whined, her expression switching to desperately hopeful, "It's ridiculous out there."

Percy glanced over at her, setting down the shredder. "Oh no. Well, what can I do?"

"Some kid got blue Coke on the Ares statue. It's really sticky."

Percy, surprisingly, smirked, before immediately covering his face. "Um, why don't you wipe it off, Rachel. Is the statue actually blue?"

Rachel sighed. "Yep. And the Apollo statue got tipped over because it was a 'fake Superman'."

Percy actually snorted and winked at Hazel. "The statue had so much ego it shouldn't be able to stand," he told the small girl, before turning to Rachel. "Just explain that Apollo has muscles too."

Rachel nodded, her mass of curly hair bobbing with her. "Well, either way, it's boring out there. Percy, can I stay with you?"

Percy gave her a strained smile. "Of course, Rachel. Always stay with me." He gave her an one-arm hug. "I do have to finish shredding cheese."

Annabeth's insides squeezed painfully when she saw Rachel leaning against Percy's sturdy frame. She forced herself to turn to Frank. "So, for the pizza, once I'm done, what do I do?"

Frank smiled at her. "That's okay. I'll deal with them." He slid them onto plates and easily carried the pizzas to the serving window, where the readied trays were. "Pick up!" He called, tapping the bell.

Annabeth joined him. "Isn't Rachel a waitress? She's in the uniform."

Frank shrugged and lowered his voice. "Well, now she's just talking to Percy."

Annabeth felt shame and jealousy ripple through her, but she pushed it away. "Oh, okay. Pick up!" she yelled out the door.

Katie pushed in. "Oh, Annabeth, hi." Her skirt and polo were as neat as before, which Annabeth really wanted to know the secret of. "Did you make these?"

Annabeth grinned proudly. The steps were rather simple, but the Leos came with complex ingredients, so it wasn't exactly a basic pizza. "Yep. These three go to Hermes, I think." Frank nodded, affirming that.

"Alright, thanks. Great job, Annabeth," Katie praised while she took them away.

When she was gone, Annabeth turned to Frank. "Is she that nice to everyone?"

Frank gave her a half-smile. "Kind of?"

She laughed. "I guessed so." She glanced over at the Fanta and remembered something. "Hey, uh, why are there so many blue Coke bottles in the fridge? Do the customers really like them?"

"Well, some do. They're actually the accompaniment to his pizzas, just like milk to Nico's. But blue Coke is Percy's favorite drink."

"Really?" Annabeth raised her eyebrows. Well, it was the first thing she knew about Percy. No, wait, the second. The first thing is that he has incredible eyes. Just thinking about staring into them drew up a red flush onto her cheeks.

Frank raised an eyebrow. "I think you really like him."

She gaped at him. Well, that was straightforward. "No, not really."

"Come on, everyone can tell." He paused. "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Rachel is obsessed with him."

"Like, in a psychopathic way?" Her brows furrowed in worry. Her brain, strangely like a computer, started listing out disorders. Well, apparently being smart when she was young still clung to her like mold.

Frank squinted at her in confusion. "What? No. Just normal obsessed."

"Oh." She nodded slowly before realizing that she should get out of this conversation. "Well, it's okay if Rachel likes him a lot. I don't."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. But don't get deterred by her. I think you two could work together."

 _I'm getting coupled together with Percy?_ She wasn't sure if that made her happy or disappointed , since it was nice, but probably won't happen. "Doubt it," she muttered.

"Cheer up," Frank told her, just as Percy yelled over, "Annabeth? Can we start?"

She said bye to Frank and walked over. Rachel gave her a quick once-over. "You're Annabeth?"

"Yeah. The new day cook."

Rachel's eyes bore into hers intimidatingly. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare." She smirked when the recognition spread across Annabeth's face. Rachel was the heir to Dare Enterprises? That was one of the largest corporate companies in the world. She couldn't believe she couldn't tell who the rich girl was on sight. Though she was always more made-up and less pissed in the magazines.

Wait. If Rachel literally had everything, why was she a waitress in a small, nowhere town? Annabeth's brain did a quick scan of her and the answer came almost immediately: Rachel's pale hand resting on Percy's arm. She gulped, suddenly having the sensation of swimming in cold water with sharks.

"Oh, hi, Rachel," Annabeth said, her voice coming out raspy.

Rachel smirked, seeing that she had conquered her prey. " _Hi_ ," she answered, her voice acquiring a slight tilt. Annabeth realized it was mocking her nervousness.

Percy, watching them, shifted his arm to grab a pizza dough. Rachel's arm dropped down by her small thigh. Furiousness crossed through her watery green pupils before they returned to their normal level of anger.

"Okay, so Percys are much more easy," he told her. "You dump on a lot of cheese, and—" he reached into the top cupboard for a squeeze bottle, his shirt lifting to reveal tan skin, "use this." The squeeze bottle had sky blue liquid in it. He showered it over the heap of cheese and lightly mixed it in. "You try," he told her, getting another dough.

Annabeth squeezed in between Percy and Rachel and copied his actions, being careful to use the exact ratio of cheese and blue stuff as him. They carried the dough to Frank, now back at the pizza oven, Rachel hovering at Percy's shoulder all the while.

"Well, now you know how to make the two most popular pizzas," Percy told her once Frank had lifted the doughs into the oven.

Hazel dropped by. "Please, everyone loves the gumbo one too."

Percy cocked his head. "Fine. Two of the most popular pizzas."

Annabeth nodded. "There's still the Olives of Athens and the Happy Meal one, right?"

Hazel grinned at her. "Well, you're a quick learner."

"Three bottles of Sprite! One pepperoni, one BBQ, a gumbo and a Percy," Katie called through the window. "Hurry! Ares is full, and the people are hungry!"

"Okay, Annabeth," Percy began as they headed to the counter. "So, gumbo has chopped garlic, onion, okra, celery….."

 **Now for the replying**

 **Singing-along: That was such a professional reply. Thank you! I'm so glad I have your support.**

 **Cursedhazel: You do? Thanks! I love the way** _ **you**_ **write too!**

 **Piggyhero: You don't deserve a reply. Jk, bestie. Actually, never mind, you really don't.**

 **Guest: I think I disappointed you with my lack of posting. Will work on it.**

 **Firedawn'd: Yay I'm glad you think so. I had no idea anyone would think this is smooth. So happy you do.**

 **Merendinoemiliano: Nice name! I hope to see you soon too. He isn't that bad… according to me.**

 **Procasinatingmushroomfangirl: Um, not my fault. Autocorrect's. Sorry for making you read through that though.**

 **Haleyfirst1: Really? Thanks. I think that's a great idea.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi, I'm back, right on schedule. So proud of myself. Anyways, if you guys haven't figured, I post once a week.** _ **Usually**_ **. Or, more like,** _ **wishfully**_ **.**

 **Enjoy!**

Annabeth

"'Beth? You there?" A loud voice called through the kitchen door.

She glanced up from her very carefully diced jalapenos and spotted Thalia at the entrance. "Oh, hey! Over here, Thalia."

Thalia swept past Leo, tousling his hair, and stopped at Annabeth's side. "Ooh, nice chopping."

She grimaced. "I don't want juice in my eyes again." She cautiously wiped her hands on a towel and leaned against the counter. "So, finally decided to join us?"

"Yeah, I had to drag myself from bed."

Annabeth laughed. "Seriously? You were sleeping until one?"

Thalia shook her head firmly. "Nope. Twelve." She gestured to her face. "This doesn't just, you know, _happen_." The two girls busted out laughing.

Annabeth crossed her arms once she was done. "I'm assuming you were actually stuffing down a huge breakfast."

"What makes you say that?" Thalia asked innocently, fetching two blue Cokes from the drink fridge. Percy got them all addicted. Every time he gulped one down he could've been filming an ad, with his shining eyes and pleased expression. Then again, he was handsome enough to be on TV. Annabeth immediately blushed after thinking that.

"What? Is Percy coming?" Thalia started looking around the second she noticed Annabeth's cheeks.

The Blue coke almost slipped from her hands. "Thalia!" she shrieked, her cheeks reddening some more.

Her friend chuckled. "Come on, everyone knows you become a stop sign whenever Percy shows up."

Annabeth smacked her forehead. "Um, no. Keep it down!" She was never such a mess around boys, but back then she was sensible and derisive. Then Luke came around and unraveled her so that, now, she was a tangle of widely visible emotions and thoughts.

Thalia slung an arm around her shoulder. "Chill. You still have half a day, and being lover girl is going to mess up the kitchen's teamwork."

She rolled her eyes. "As if this kitchen doesn't have enough couples." She pointed to Leo and Calypso, who were alternating between kissing and arguing.

"Speaking of couples….." someone laughed behind them.

Thalia and Annabeth spun around to a familiar goth boy. "Nico!" Thalia exclaimed, grabbing him and burying her face in his chest. "I missed you."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. She still wasn't used to Thalia getting sentimental around her boyfriend, and it was already her second week here.

Once he was released, Nico pulled his apron off a wall hook and tied it around himself. "Ready for another busy afternoon, Annabeth?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's a Tuesday, Nico. It won't be that busy."

Nico shook his head. "Piper talked to me on the way here. Apparently there's some middle school talent event, so maybe a bunch of kids will come."

She nodded while Thalia cut in. "Seriously, why does Piper keep track of all the town happenings? It must take a lot of brain space."

"She just checks the bulletins," Leo told them, passing by. "Beauty Queen doesn't have a memory that great."

"Wait, Piper's still at work?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia smirked. "Yup. She spends the whole day here because of my ridiculous brother. Piper says it's because she's the assistant manager, but no one's buying it."

Miranda leaned in through the serving window. "Guys! Only Calypso's prepping. We already have an order for Hawaiian with a side of onion rings. Oh yeah, and a lemonade." She dropped the slip with the order on the metal surface, which Leo picked up.

"There's no lemonade on here," he stated.

Miranda smiled sheepishly. "Uh, that's for me."

Thalia placed a hand on her hip. "Uh, you gotta pay," she joked. She grabbed one from the fridge and tossed it. "Catch!"

"Woah!" Percy yelled as the bottle flew past his chest, halfway through the door. "A food fight?"

Nico got even paler, if that was possible. "No!"

"Alright, alright." He grabbed an apron and slipped it on. "Leo, the slip." He quickly skimmed it and said, "So, the rings will be on—"

"I'm in charge," Calypso interrupted, placing the slip back in the serving window. "Nico and Leo, prep the pizza. Annabeth, you and I'll do the rings. Percy, handle the oven. Oh yeah, and preheat the electric one."

"And me?" Thalia asked jokingly.

Calypso cocked her head. "Don't mess around with Nico too much, I guess." She clapped her hands. "Start working!"

She taught Annabeth how to slice the onions properly and what batter to dip them in. They dumped them in the deep-fryer when more orders came in, for fries and some more pizzas. Annabeth started multitasking, shaking fries from the box with one hand and scattering pepperoni with the other. The kitchen was back in motion, well, at least as busy it could get on Tuesday, talent show or not.

Wow. Silena was right about this place. The rickety landing on the fire escape ladder was snug but easily likeable. While each side couldn't have been more than three feet, it was really cool. The imprinted floor was thin metal in dusty blacks and browns. The narrow rails were wrapped in cheery yellow and green ribbons, and a necklace was entwined on the tiny solar lamp. Annabeth had brought her own pillow, which she settled beside various other blankets and pillows. From what she could tell, a lot of staff came up here.

She pressed her back against the pillow, feeling some of the tension slip from her. It was a rushed Friday night, with about three men-only gatherings and the local swim team. Zeus and Poseidon were _packed_.

After soaking in the low murmur of the night, she opened up her gray book bag. She lifted out a rough, falling-apart sketchbook from five years ago. It had a lot scratches and pages sticking out, and the colorful garden on the cover had faded to a few splotches. She carefully flipped it open to an empty page, found a pencil, and sketched four walls.

The building slowly took form. It was pretty unoriginal, but her first sketch in a while. It was a plain upstairs floor, with an office and two bedrooms. The bedrooms were the hardest to arrange, of course, because they had so many requirements. Eventually she added a bathroom to adjust the general frame.

"Hey," someone whispered in front of her.

She jumped and glanced up. Percy was leaning against the railing, one muscled arm casually draped across it. The bright ribbons didn't match his loose hoodie at all. Wind tousled his raven hair even more, throwing curls into his deep green eyes. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he told her.

She shook her head, her heart jumping in her rib cage. "No, it's okay."

He bended down. "Can I ask what you're doing?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you basically just ask that?"

His lips quirked into a grin. "I was hoping to be polite."

She smiled back, her pulse blaring in giddiness. "In that case, of course." Wait. Her mind stopped in its tracks. Was she flirting?

Before she could thoroughly analyze the answer, he said, "Well, what are you doing with this?"

Her hand automatically went to cover it. "I'm sketching a blueprint, sort of. More like the room design." She shifted her hand. "This one isn't that good."

"Please, I'm sure everything you've done was great."

She blushed. "I'm kind of out of practice. I can show you a past one, though." She flipped through the other sketches, reacquainting herself with her old ideas. She stopped at a pretty nice skyscraper and showed it to him.

"Wow. See, you are good."

" _Were_ ," she corrected. "Yeah, I took a few classes about architecture back then."

He rolled his eyes. "No, I saw a little bit of what you were just drawing and it looked completely professional."

She smiled softly. "Thanks."

"Seriously, you could work with the official architects. Why are you a chef in a small town?"

Annabeth stared him right in the eye. "Because I love this job," she answered honestly. And that was the best reason of all.

 **Okay, sucky ending, I know. I wasn't sure how to end this. So, I might update a bunch next week. Maybe. Prepare for a way-too-rushed plot. Heh. But I hoped this was alright.**

 **Au revior,**

 **Pride-and-loyalty**


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright, another chapter. This one will be longer, I promise. And I would like to apologize for my ridiculous posting habits. Also, I'm writing on my phone, since my laptops are at home and I'm not. So ignore all the spelling and grammar mistakes. Anyone I ever texted to knows my grief with my phone keyboard. Lastly, review replies are at the bottom. (If you guys are still around.)** **Enjoy**!

Annabeth

They spent the whole night. She would've never guessed that such a simple conversation would lead to all this, but it did. Percy pulled a soft blue blanket from the pile, arranged it beside her, and they talked for hours. Mostly about the restaurant, why they came there, and their hopes for the future.

He said he planned on leaving after a few years, maybe joining the Navy. His other choice was to find a marine biology group and be the observatory guy. She laughed and told him the official term, but Percy didn't bother remembering it.

As for her, once she got over her heartbreak, she'd find an architectural company and work from there. He told her she would be top, and she flushed and shook her head no.

They were delving into past backgrounds–Percy was all the way from the East Coast–when they started yawning. He drove her to this cluttered café with a few mismatched chairs, two or three college students typing frantically at their laptops sitting close to the counter for a faster stream of coffee. They ordered the small strong black as the students and picked a corner seat.

"Honestly, I was not that devoted in college. Probably why I'm here, working in a pizza place," Percy murmured.

She patted his hand comfortingly before drawing her hand back like it was burnt. A warm flush built in her cheeks, but she shoved it down before Percy could notice. "I most likely stayed up twice the nights they have, with a whole lot more papers and empty cups, but I have the same job as you."

"Only because you had one moment of irrationality. You could be a millionaire with that brain." He offered her a half-smile.

"Hardly, because only an idiot would giving up being a millionaire for central heating and moldy walls." Annabeth took a gulp of coffee.

Percy grabbed her free fingers urgently. Her pulse flamed. "Wait, not this. We are not playing the pity game. We're going to do something crazy because we drank too much caffeine."

"I barely drank any coffee," she answered teasingly, setting down her cup. "Besides, you can tell I'm not the type."

He smirked. "That's true. I bet you drive at the speed limit. But I wasn't talking sneaking-around kind of crazy. So much people do that. It's not original. I was thinking mixing Mountain Dew with Blue Coke and sticking in glow tubes."

Annabeth snickered. "Um, that sounds dangerous from all the chemicals and food coloring."

He crossed his arms defensively. "It's not that dangerous. We can borrow Leo's goggles."

"Why does Leo have goggles?"

He stirred his coffee mysteriously. "Oh, that's not for me to tell." He hesitated and bit his lip. "Fine, he's a pyromaniac. Sort of."

She decided she didn't want to know more. "Uh, okay. Why don't we try to make origami with tinfoil?"

"Too tame. What if we learned easy-knitting and did that with rolled-up tissue-like paper?"

"They would break," she answered flatly.

He set down his cup. "Fine. Told you the drinks and glow sticks are the best."

"No way. We'll permanently stain some walls neon. As a matter of fact, it might just break your eyes when you walk around your home."

"My home? Obviously you're the prepared one, always with a strict schedule and a bag with everything. Why do you have first-aid kit anyway? There's one at the restaurant."

"Yes, I saw that," she answered calmly. "But what if I get hurt outside the place? Or if its lacking. That's why I always have extra."

Percy smacked his forehead. "How? How is this even possible?"

She smirked at his confusion. "It comes naturally to me. And even though I have everything I would need in my daily routine or for an emergency, I don't have dyed drinks, glow sticks, and gallons upon gallons of wall paint to cover up stains."

"Dealing with you requires more coffee," he muttered to himself. He waved at a waitress, who sleepily nodded and headed for the machine. Her hands moved lightning fast from practice, while her eyes were closing. "Well, I have the drinks, and the paint is totally unnecessary, so we just need to find some sticks."

"We're really doing this?" She also gestured for a new cup.

"Yep. We'll have three tall cups each, to go," he told her barista, who nodded, but most likely from sleep.

"Then we need a large plastic jar. A bottle will do fine. And some string to link the sticks to the top of the bottle. This way, in case the bottle is pushed around, or carelessly shaken, the sticks might hit the bottom too hard and crack."

"Wow, you've really thought this through." He stared at her appreciatively.

Her cheeks warmed, and she answered modestly, "It's just initial calculations."

Percy's stare turned disbelieving. "Sure….."

She shrugged and turned around, picking up the cups of coffee. "You know, I have a better idea. What if we picked up some natural dye, made a bit of whipped cream colorful, and stuck that in the middle of a cake? We can bring it to the restaurant."

He smirked. "Annabeth, are you trying to escape?"

Her spine tingled. How could he tell? Anyway, she thought it was a good idea. "No, not exactly. But I really am stuck with this brightly-colored project?"

"Yep," he answered firmly. "Now come on, we're getting glow sticks."

The experiment was rather anticlimactic. Everything just bobbed together and the light was slightly greener in the dark. They laughed and chatted for a bit longer until Annabeth decided she needed to sleep. He silently drove her home, brushing fingers over the console every once in a while.

When he walked her to the door, his face was strangely impassive. She suddenly yearned for a light peck, as if they were on a first date or something.

He didn't, of course. He leaned in, gave her a close hug smelling of salt and soap, and Annabeth immediately recalled one of her first memories. One of her mother's friends came to visit two-year-old her, pulled her onto her lap, and kissed the top of her head. Later on, she guessed she was feeling what people called "at home". But the memory slipped from her mind when her face touched a hard chest. In fact, her breath slipped from her lungs.

A strange instinct took over her. She took fistfuls of his sweater while inhaling his smell deeply. His hand hesitantly landed on her shoulder. They stayed in the hug for multiple moments too long. Finally, with a sigh, he let go.

"Good night," he murmured. He glanced towards the horizon, where tendrils of gold were peeking out like unfurling ferns. "Maybe not."

She laughed and shook her head. "See you in a few hours, then, Percy." His emerald eyes shone with something unrecognizable.

"Annabeth, is that your phone?" Piper glanced in through the kitchen door, looking slightly frazzled..

She shook her head. "No, it's turned off like it's supposed to be."

"Thalia? Selina? You guys know the rules."

"No, not us!" The punk waitress yelled back.

Piper raised an eyebrow at the chefs. "Well, which one out of you?"

Leo shook his head . "I haven't given out my number this week." He dodged a swat from Calypso. "Besides, my ringtone is better than that."

Nico tapped his chin. "I feel like I heard that ringing a long time ago." He thoughtfully stared at the floor. "The Stolls haven't been cleaning. Wait, I figured it out! It's the kitchen phone."

They stared at each other, questions on their faces. Where was this phone? Why did they have one? And what were the Stolls actually doing?

Calypso turned to a counter and started rummaging. Everyone joined her. "I found it!" Piper eventually exclaimed. She had pushed away tubs of chili powder and paprika, along with a worn copy of Motorcycle Weekly to show a simple wall phone.

Calypso was silently voted to pick up, since she would be the most professional representative of here. "Hello, Grace's Pizza Place. Why are you calling? Also, are you familiar with our front desk number?" She listened to the reply with a frown. "Sure, of course. It'll be there by seven." There was a long silence. She had to grab a notepad, where she started scribbling a long order. Her, "Thank you, please order again" was startlingly sugared.

Then she turned to the lot of them, back to being bossy. "This sophomore dude has a party and wants a tall stack of pizza and wings. Delivered. Who's going?"

Nico rubbed his arm. "Can't. Thalia and I had something planned for a long while."

Leo, meanwhile, thrust his arm in the air. "Pick me! I want to see exactly how awesome this party is. Also, if there's a keg stand I won't be back."

"And that, is the precise reason you're not going," his girlfriend answered stoutly, ignoring his protests.

Annabeth nodded to the younger girl. "I'm up for it. Are you coming?"

She shook her head. "Sisters are visiting. I can't miss out." Suddenly she grinned brightly. "Percy, got anything?"

Annabeth glanced at him with a slight blush. The hug was a week ago, and they haven't been that close since. "Um, you don't have to go if you don't want to."

He turned his deep green stare onto her. "I won't mind." A smile tugged at his lips.

Piper squealed. "Perfect!"

Annabeth did not expect anything. Instead, when she got into the rundown truck Leo got for them, all she felt was relief. Making all those pizzas actually wore out her arms. But when Percy slipped beside her and grinned, she forgot it all for a delighted second.

The trip was long. Annabeth estimated all the possible stops so that he wouldn't have to halt abruptly and cause all the pizzas to crash against the back of their chairs. Percy did his best to remember his way around the town. They both failed every occasionally, but at least Percy didn't need to slam down the brakes in an alley.

Their banter was loose, like people who knew little about each other. Honestly, they didn't. But after spending day upon day with each other, they had an unspoken comfort being around each other.

Finally they found the house. They loaded their arms and awkwardly knocked by bumping Annabeth's hip against the door. A mostly-drunk dude picked them up with an easy grin. "Want to come in?" His breath smelled like alcohol. Percy shook his head, handed him the large-sized bottle of Coke, and right on cue, Annabeth closed the door in his face.

Once they were off the porch, they erupted in whispers. "Leo would've loved that party."

"He definitely would stay over."

"I can't believe they can eat so much.""Guys have endless stomachs."

"I should know, I have younger step-brothers. But I somehow keep forgetting."

"Yeah, well, wait until they're highschoolers."

"I can't wait."

The ride back went far more smoothly, without any misrouting and potholes. They talked more freely, this time about hobbies and such. As expected, Percy adored the sea, and swam a lot. He found her hobbies pretty predictable too. Maybe they did know each other well.

Before reaching the restaurant, Percy pulled over. "Annabeth, I wanted to do this one the night we spent together." He bent over and kissed the corner of her mouth.

His lips were strangely soft, but firm in even a peek. "Oh, who am I kidding," he muttered under his breath. He brush his lips lightly against hers. They tasted like blue Coke, lemon, and the omnipresent saltiness.

And in one motion Annabeth threw away who she used to be. The smart, sensible girl with a steel gaze. The heartbroken, tired girl who was dumped. And even the unsure, work-in-progress chef.

She had grabbed his handsome face as it was pulling back, and pressed her lips to his. He didn't hesitate either. His salty taste was even more intoxicating than thrill racing through her. His lips, his kiss, became the most familiar thing to her in a matter of seconds.

Percy's large hands glided down her back, starting small wildfires inside her with each brush of skin. She touched his silky hair lightly, then buried her fingers in the raven locks she'd long to touch for so long.

Annabeth was a n utterly different person now. She was girl tied up with a green-eyed boy.

 **Alright, yay I'm finally done. Long enough? I hope so. I have spent a lot of extra effort on this fic. First, typing, and then dealing with phone Word. (It doesn't like me, unlike computer Word.)** **DeanJackson1411: Wow, thanks. I bet you could write good stuff too. But beta readers are pretty awesome.** **Cursedhazel: Thanks for sticking with me for so long. I hope I keep living up to your comments.** **Procrastinatingmushroomfangirl: Thanks for the encouragement. My plot is messy (at least in my head) so that was nice to hear.** **CancerousAddiction: Great. Thanks for telling me. How are all of you so nice?** **Alia Pace-Percabeth: Awesome name. By the way, that totally made my day. No kidding. I was grinning goofily for a really long time. By the way, you totally sound like me.**

 **Au revoir,** **Pride and loyallty**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight! Has the wait been long? It's was only, what three weeks? Sorry. I actually finished the earlier chapter on a plane while it was waiting (what's the official term again?). Anyway, that plane took me across the country. I have realized that no one reads these and that the best fanfics have zero A/Ns. Okay, fine.**

 **Enjoy!**

Annabeth

She carefully drizzled blue food coloring over the mozzarella, hoping not to overload the customers with harmful chemicals along with too much calories and taco sauce. But a familiar deep voice sounded at her shoulder, so she jumped in alarm and sprayed blue all over the pizza and her apron.

"That doesn't look too bad," Percy laughed. "Much better than boring gray."

She frowned at him, trying to keep a straight face. When she first got here, Jason had handed her a royal purple apron, which he handpicked, and explained it was for the chefs. Leo immediately snatched it off her and said only Hazel and Frank wore them and she could pick her own. So she took a gray one, naturally.

Except, now, it was badly stained, and she wasn't entirely sure the dye could be washed off. Malcolm headed over and bit his lip. "Okay, that's not good."

"It'll be fine," Percy insisted. "She can always get another one, but this one looks pretty nice."

Malcolm smiled faintly. "Sure. The extras are in the hall shelves, Annabeth."

Percy stepped closer and reached behind her to untie the strings. She was practically inches from his chest. If she leaned back, she would meet his steady arms. A slight blush arose in her cheeks.

He pulled the apron over her head, his fingers reaching forward to untangle her hair from the top loop. She turned her face. She was obviously thinking way too much into this.

The apron brushed his front, painting a dash of blue onto his slightly darker apron. He frowned, exasperated, and it was Annabeth's turn to laugh. "Well, I doubt you'd want to change."

His frown split into a smirk. "Nope. It looks perfect the way it is."

They headed outside the kitchen to the hallway, where a stocked shelf greeted them. It was lined with fire-making tools: matches, more than two dozen cigarette lighters, an extra tub of lighter fluid, some gasoline, and a few rags to go with it. There was also a spare tool belt and some new knickknack with a lot of bolts.

"I'm assuming all this is Leo's? And the rags are for pouring gasoline onto?"

"Yep. Though, at some point, he would use the gasoline on a car." He touched her arm to get her attention. "The aprons are here, on the side. I think Calypso bought them. There is another blue one, you know."

She bumped his side with her forearm. "No, I'm good. I don't think it's that great of a color."

"What? Come on, it's the best color ever!"

She offered him a playful smile. "Only because of your strange obsession with the sea."

"Yeah? And you like gray because your personality is boring, right?" He teased.

Her eyes gleamed with competitiveness. "Isn't blue the calm color? The mellow, not-exactly-strong color?"

His arms met the walls on both sides of her, pressing Annabeth in. "Yeah, but it's supposed to also mean smartness. While gray is blurry."

She crossed her arms. While he was taller and slightly more muscular, they had similar builds, so she was hardly intimidated. A surge of confidence and cockiness soared inside her. She pinned him under her steel gaze, colder than ice and sharper than nails. Or so it's described. Percy stepped back.

"So it's clear gray is superior?"

"Nope, certainly not." But his confidence was wavering.

Annabeth smirked and found a charcoal apron from the pile, smoothed out the wrinkles, and slipped it over her head. Percy, ever the gentleman, headed behind her to do the strings. Her back tensed every time he brushed it, and when he grabbed her hand once she was done, her breath flew out of her.

The thing is, after that incredible kiss in his car that night, she'd avoided his eyes and stumbled into her home. When they got back to work, it wasn't as awkward, but instead they started actually like they were just friends. Which, from what she could see, was probably true. Still, there was a lot more physical contact. Percy brushing her arm _every single time_ he wanted another spoon or bowl or pizza dough. Her touching his shoulder to ask questions or remind him of things. He even wrapped his arm around her waist as they headed out of the kitchen together, released from work.

Thalia said they looked exactly like a couple, a comment which Annabeth immediately swatted away. But was so much touching part of a plain friendship?

Annabeth snapped out of her thoughts and let herself be led by Percy back into the kitchen. He dropped at her unfinished pizza. She mixed the cheese with her hands, spreading out the dye, and handed the finished pie to Frank.

She was beginning on a simple barbecue pizza when Percy spoke up. "You know, I was wondering…."

"Percy!" Piper yelled through the window. "Start working! Artemis and Demeter want a few cold drinks. The list is over here."

He sighed, annoyed and headed over. "Okay, fine." He took the list and the drinks from the fridge over to the counter by Annabeth and started working. "Annabeth, when do you sleep?"

She paused and eyed him uncertainly. When she saw that he was serious, she answered. "Twelve. Give or take a few hours."

He wiped down the glasses he got from the cupboard. "Oh. Okay. How many hours can I take?"

She was even more confused. "You?"

Percy offered his signature smile. "Who other than me?"

She gave him a look. "I can think of some other people."

"Well, it's just that I've recently been a big part of your nights—"

"Two, Percy. Two."

"Go back to your chopping, Annabeth." He gestured irritably to her chopping board. "I wanted to ask if I could take you somewhere. Tomorrow night."

She blinked. That was straightforward. Annabeth's brain slowly spat out a reaction. "I would like to know where."

He smiled at her question. "Well, it's supposed to be a mystery. You know, the romantic suspense."

By reflex, she glanced around, but everyone was busy cooking. Why would he say something like that in public? She found a retort quickly. "Not knowing causes fear. While such an occasion has barely occurred to me," her mother would be so proud of her, "I would be scared of whatever bizarre thing you came up with."

Percy looked taken aback. Maybe he didn't get the sarcasm. But then he grinned. "I wouldn't do anything like that to you, Annabeth." His taunting voice caused her cheeks to redden. "You've met Beckendorf, right?"

She nodded. He came in once in a while for dishwashing and fixed things around the place.

"Well, long ago he designed this portal thing, but it didn't work out, so he built it into something new. Then he forgot about it until we were talking about stuff we made in high school. Anyway, I want to visit it. With you."

Her cheeks darkened to scarlet. Some instinct deep inside her pushed her hand forward and spread it open. Percy stared at it before taking it. Happiness bloomed inside her like a flower in spring. "Yes. Of course. It sounds interesting."

"Guys," Hazel reminded them gently while heading over. Then she saw their hands and her lips rounded into an "o".

Annabeth couldn't help laughing. "Yes?"

Hazel flashed an excited smile and squealed lightly. With one last beam, she scurried off.

"Uh, what was that?" Percy asked, an eyebrow raised.

Annabeth chucked. "Oh, nothing."

She couldn't believe her eyes once Piper and Miranda were finished with her. None of them dressed other than casual, so the fact that they could produce so much thick evening makeup was strange. She was in a loose sliver shift dress secured at the waist with a black leather belt, dark brown slouch boots, and small, dangling crystal earrings. Her curls were tied into a low ponytail with a black ribbon. Piper had called her talented half-sister, Lacy, to help with Annabeth's makeup. She ended up with shimmery blue eye shadow, huge eyes, long lashes, tall cheekbones with white glitter, and dark pink lips. And in thirty minutes, no less. She felt way too dressed up, but she didn't want to give up this chance.

Percy was waiting out in the parking lot. When she emerged from the building, Piper watching excitedly from the doorway, he came over and his jaw dropped. "Wow." He stuttered a few other words before brushing her cheek. "You look incredible."

She smiled. "You too." Percy simply changed into a dark blue t-shirt and black jeans, but he looked really, really handsome.

They got into the Prius and drove off, Annabeth fluttering a wave to Piper on their way. When they met red light, she leaned over and whispered, "Do my lashes look too long?"

He smiled down at her. "No, I think they're fine."

"Piper wanted to glue on fake ones, but I put a stop to that."

"I like your own eyelashes." He reached over and bumped her nose. In return, she poked his arm.

Someone honked behind them, and Percy spotted the green light and went forward.

Soon they reached a mostly abandoned-looking field. They past a silent warehouse, and one peek into the dusty window revealed a cot, a mini fridge, and an Xbox. Okay, that was a weird combination. They went further in the field, and a tall circular frame caught her eye. As they got closer, the slightly rusty supporter appeared, along with a patch of mowed-down grass on the bottom.

"That's the boarding station," Percy supplied helpfully. Finally, she could see the thin spokes leading to small cables, proving her suspicions right. They were at a Ferris Wheel.

Percy found a button on the center and pressed it. The wheel churned to life, the cables very slowly twitching up the circle. They stood in front of it, waiting for a cable to pass by. One came over and stopped for fifteen seconds or so.

He grabbed her arm and they hopped on together, swinging the flimsy metal door shut behind them. Beckendorf had only crafted one bench, and probably to save his metal, the cables were really small. Percy was pressed against Annabeth. She idly noted that to save more space, they should probably wrap their arms around each other, but didn't bother saying it aloud.

"Huh. I honestly thought these would be bigger than _two feet_. At least I'm pressed together with you." He shot her an easy grin.

Her heartbeat picked up. The fact that she was getting squished into jelly seemed a whole lot less important as she concentrated on his smile. Everything she did with Percy was completely new and different from what Luke and she had, but she still considered it romantic.

Eventually she had the courage to direct their long limbs around the cable, and soon they had breathing room. She ended up mostly on his lap, but he rested his chin on her head and jokingly murmured, "So eager today, receiving an elbow in the gut.

The views were pretty incredible. They got to see their small town, all orderly roofs and streets, like a chessboard, dimly lit at night. The sky shifted between shades of navy and velvet. The field also had a few scraggly trees on the side, and Annabeth definitely wanted to introduce Miranda and Katie to that patch so they could revive them.

The round was half an hour, so they slowly climbed to the top. The whole wheel seemed to freeze a little, and Annabeth watched in fascination as a tiny, faraway window lit up. She summoned up some bravery and rested her head on Percy's shoulder. He, too, was staring out the window, the waves in his eyes churning and shoving, his thoughts swirling deep inside. She comfortingly took his hand, and he slowly glanced down at her.

A happy smile spread across his lips, like he was seeing a multicolored puddle or an unusual shadow, and he leaned down. Annabeth could barely recall what happened next, her heart was beating so quickly.

His lips met hers with incredible softness, moving in a rapid dance. His hands cupped her cheeks and touched her hair, she glided her hands across his shoulders.

The cable unfroze and continued travelling down, but Annabeth paid no mind to it. Her fingers found Percy's messy raven locks, traveling down to the silky tangles and pushing through them. Her mind glided on a dream-like cloud, stopping its stream of information and observances for once and zeroing onto the movement of his lips.

They pulled apart after a little, excitement still racing through her. Percy's fingers moved down to hold her chin, touching her jaw. "Well?" he asked.

Annabeth shrugged before answering quietly, "It was exhilarating."

He grinned. "So, fun?"

"This is our first date, right? How classy is it that you kissed me?"

He thought for a bit. "Uh, aren't we supposed to kiss on the first date? It's not like we haven't before."

"Okay, that's even less gentlemanly. What do you say?"

Percy flung open his arms. "Since when were there so many rules? We're not even at a dinner and a movie!"

She slumped, bested. "I guess the rules of propriety aren't there. Seriously, I thought you were a classic guy."

"Do I look classic?" He struck a pose, and suddenly Annabeth imagined him in an ad. She fought down her smile.

"Sort of. Seriously, Superman? Can't you be more creative?"

"This is Aquaman!"

Annabeth glanced at him, curious. "Oh, really? I thought you hated that name."

"For the most part. Owl Head."

"Yeah? Well, you're a Kelp Head!"

"Wait, Thalia told you that name?"

She nudged his chest. "Yep. She's my new bestie."

He snickered. "I can't believe you just called Thalia something girly." He broke out in laughs.

"Okay, that wasn't the best word choice." She joined him in laughing.

Once they stopped, Percy looked up. "Wait. You never answered my question. Is this fun?"

She sighed and draped herself over the window. "Yes," she answered earnestly.

"Phew. I was afraid this would be awkward and totally flop."

"Well, yeah, it's not like we've got any pizzas to make." But she grinned and pushed her hand into the hair at the nape of his neck. "But it's proved to be great so far."

He leaned into her. "Us?"

"Yep."

The cable finished it's round and the door opened, but neither made a move to get out. Annabeth just laced her fingers inside his.

So the door shut on its own, and the little square started its journey again.

 **Okay, I'm done! For some reason, totally not tired, unlike other times, but that's probably 'cause I took a sip of coffee. Just curious, does anyone actually read these? I'll stop rambling if you guys say no. Also, how do you pm someone?**

 **So, please review!**

 **Rexsniperpercabeth: You know, one of my favorite words is perfect. That is such a huge compliment. The fact that you like my endings, which I make a huge deal of, is incredible. Thanks!**

 **Shauna Kullden: Yeah, I also get teary around fanfics. I'm so happy you like this though. I try.** _ **Bonne Journee.**_ **(Btw, I don't actually know any French, but with any luck, I'll get in French I soon.)**

 **AliaPace-Percabeth: Wow, thank you for calling me a great author. All this encouragement you guys are giving me is pretty touching. I hope I can make this story amazing. I'm not entirely sure how to make the ending that good, but I will keep working.**

 **Au revior,**

 **Pride-and-loyalty**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys. I'm updating pretty consistently, right? Basically, I wrote this and the last chapter in my head a while ago and I'm pretty excited for both of them. Okay, the last one was not spectacular at all, but hopefully this one'll be alright. And thanks for the reviews, as always, I loved them.**

 **Enjoy!**

Annabeth

"All crew aboard!" Frank yelled out into the restaurant. It was a running joke started some time ago about how they functioned just like a ship crew. Thalia said most of them would be chilling downstairs or with the fridge, so now it was an "aboard" thing.

All the waitresses and single waiter-Chris, stopped bustling around the empty tables and headed in. This was planned ahead of time to be in the middle of the day so that the people on both shifts would be together.

Rachel, as always, staked her claim by pressing herself to Percy and shooting frosty looks in Annabeth's direction. She rolled her eyes at the redheaded waitress' antics and perched on the counter beside Katie, sister of Miranda, who worked in the afternoon.

Hazel stood beside Frank, but instead of being dwarfed like usual, her beam and excited glow made her the center of the room. She lifted a cream-colored box onto the kitchen island and carefully undid the ribbons. A delicately frosted upside-down cheesecake sat in the middle. Loopy chocolate icing spelled out, "Grace's Pizza Place".

Warm smiles spread out around the workers, leaning in to examining the gorgeously done cake. It had a smooth coat of purple icing, the store's main color, with splashes of orange (which most of them preferred) and a little puff in every person's favorite color. She also appealed to most of their childlike natures and dusted the top with crushed candies and chocolate. It really was a well-done job.

"I made this to celebrate our one year anniversary!" Hazel exclaimed, blowing out the small candle she placed inside the first "p". "I had so much fun working here. Our menu has gotten so many new pizzas, and everyone loves our originals. And I have really good news. I drew some scenes from here, and the town gallery actually accepted them!"

The kitchen was full of people clapping and yelling out congratulations. Frank lifted her into the air and spun her in a circle, her cinnamon hair flying.

She pulled some prints from an envelope, displaying pictures clearly drawn with color pencils. There was Calypso sprinkling toppings on a pizza with concentration, Miranda carrying out five large pizzas with ease, Percy and Leo spraying each other with whipping cream, Thalia yelling across the restaurant (probably at the Stolls), Nico leaning on a counter and examining his Mythomagic cards, and Annabeth and Malcolm side by side working on an Olives of Athena pizza, Silena fluffing her hair while Clarisse made a face, Frank standing by the oven patiently, Piper slipping into Jason's office with a huge grin, and Percy grinning at a Blue Coke like he just emerged from a long desert trip with a half-full water bottle.

Annabeth saw another corner beneath the pile, and was pulling it out before Hazel hurriedly pulled it away. She glanced at her questioningly.

"I didn't submit that one," Hazel admitted. Her cheeks were really red. "I don't even know why I drew it."

"Can I see?" Annabeth asked, widening her eyes in a bad imitation of Percy's puppy dog eyes.

Hazel sighed and gave her the picture. Piper looked at it over Annabeth's shoulder and squealed. It was in front of the restaurant, which had hardly any people, and Hazel and Frank were there, kissing. Hazel's converses were mostly off the ground since Frank had lifted her up.

"Wow," Annabeth murmured. "This is really good." The whole restaurant gathered to see. Immediately a few whistles rang out and people were nodding appreciatively.

Hazel was obviously not as used to drawing herself, since her shape was a little blurred, but it was just as a good picture. Frank's cheeks were pretty red when he finally saw it himself.

"Hazel, you should include it in the collection. It would make a great first picture."

The shorter girl lowered her head modestly. "No, it's too personal."

"Come on, it's really good!" Piper and Silena and soon everyone joined in with the egging on.

Hazel glanced at Frank, their faces both scarlet. "Seriously?"

"That's a yes, then," Nico announced for her, slipping it into her pocket. "Mail it to the gallery."

"I am totally going to the exhibit. It's opening around next week, right?" Calypso asked.

Hazel nodded, her thick curls bobbing.

"Let's go together, then!" Piper laughed.

Once they finished going over the drawings and Thalia complaining about how she was "so badly portrayed", Hazel sliced the cake for them.

Percy, as expected, had a neon blue puff, and Annabeth's was slate gray. They both stepped off into a corner and ate together.

"You know, you were the only one with two pictures," Annabeth told him.

"Jealous?" he smirked. "Obviously it just goes to show how important I am around here."  
"Then again, Frank was also repeated." She smirked right back.

Percy rolled his eyes. "That's because of Hazel's everlasting love for the big guy." Hazel was coming over, and when she heard, she glared at Percy. He shrugged and said, "Well, it's clearly true."

Hazel looked at Annabeth for support, but she was nodding in agreement to Percy. "You guys are so synchronized it's weird," she told them in a huff and went away.

They broke down in giggles. Well, it was a welcome break from getting accused about fighting all the time.

When she got to her last bite, she grinned at it. The cake was supposed to symbolize each other their times here, and Annabeth loved every second. The work, hanging out with everyone, and being with Percy. She grinned as she took a huge bite.

"Jackson," she called to Percy as she simultaneously sketched and guarded over her plate of onion rings.

"Yeah?" Percy shifted in his spot on the fire escape landing, holding a small panda toy to his chest.

She frowned in concentration as she drew the detailing on the ceiling of a gazebo. "Let's do something tomorrow."

"Like what?" His hand crept out for an onion ring, but she slapped it away.

"Escape from work again," she joked. She bit her lip as she started drawing a fountain. Suddenly someone punched the window partially right across from them. They looked over to see Clarisse giving them a _Don't try this with me look_. Annabeth could tell because then the waitress yelled this with a few expletives.

Percy shook an onion ring at her. "Five minutes," he told her.

She threw up her arms and groaned. "Why do I even try," she snapped and walked away.

Annabeth picked an onion ring while sliding the plate onto her lap. "No, I was actually thinking of going somewhere."

Percy cocked his head. "Is the oh-so-great and smart Annabeth Chase asking me out on a date?" He gasped and pretended to faint.

She shoved him. "I know it's hard to believe, but you should enjoy it now."

"Well, in that case," he leaned in until he was inches away from hers. Her gaze flickered down to his lips, imagining their salty taste. He placed a hand on her neck and stayed there, watching the hesitation flicker on her face.

"Nervous?" his whispered, his breath brushing her eyelids. She shivered before hardening her gaze and stamping down her emotions. All his cockiness disappeared when he met her usual icy gray gaze.

"Not at all." Then she tilted her head and leaned in so their lips met.

There was a short thump on the window, too short, like someone had been startled, and Thalia's distinct voice yelling, "Ewwwwwwwww!"

Percy's lips split into a grin, but he didn't stop. Instead, he took her waist and tugged her closer to him. Annabeth joined in on the game, cupping his face, and meeting his lips with more ferocity than before.

Piper, then, squealed and shrieked their names over and over. Leo, at first, wolf whistled before joining Thalia's side when they ceased to stop.

They finally broke up for air, waving the grossed out/anticipating crowd away. Breathing heavily, Annabeth leaned on Percy's chest. "Man, I didn't think we were this far in the relationship."

He wrapped his arms around her. "That was an awesome make out session though. I'm glad we made it through."

Once they caught their breath they separated, leaning against the fire escape rail instead. "So, before I was so rudely interrupted," Annabeth started.

"Hey! You were the one who kissed me!"

They argued for a bit before Annabeth remembered she was about to say something. "Okay, Percy, just be quiet until I finish, kay?"

He muttered, annoyed, but nodded.

"So, since we've spent a lot of time hanging out around here, I was thinking we tried something entirely new. Do you know what the opposite of pizza is?" She shook her finger at him when he opened his mouth. "That was a rhetorical question, and you're supposed to be quiet. Fine dining, Percy. Wouldn't that be great? Nope, still rhetorical. I can find us a fancy restaurant, and we can dress up, and you'll have to pick me up. Presumably in your Maserati."

"Can I talk now? Well, since my Maserati is currently at the car shop, getting spit-shined, I'm going to have to offer my humble but gallant Ford truck. You won't mind, will you?"

Annabeth grinned. "Well, I'm not sure if any of those valets will dare to get inside, but it will be an entrance."

"Alright. I guess we can always spurge on the Grapevine every few months. Hopefully the rental suit won't have any food stains."

"The Grapevine?" Annabeth frowned. "Like the semi-formal restaurant in town? What, no, that's not fancy. We're heading to a three Michelin star one in the city. I heard it's good."

"Um, and what are our means for that? Piper?" The waitress actually had an Academy Award-winning actor as a dad and a supermodel for a mom, so she was fairly loaded, but she never claimed up to her roots otherwise.

She grinned and set down her pencil. "Nope, I've got something else in mind."  
When they were let off from work, Annabeth drove to the train station. It was only two hours from the largest city in the zip code. She hastily changed in the bathroom, almost ripping her stockings and yanking her hair into a bun she barely remembered how to do. She applied her clear gloss carefully, clutching the sink for balance, and even opted for eyeliner and two colors-blended together-of eyeshadow. Nothing but the best for Athena.

She had to wander the streets before coming across a huge gray building. Annabeth didn't even try to see the top because craning her neck so far back she was essentially upside down would make her look stupid.

As expected, the building was extraordinarily elegant and beautiful. Instead of a simple rectangle, the edges were smoothed over, with sharp points only at the top and bottom. Windows were in varying shades of gray, swirling around in mostly irregular patterns, but still creating the illusion of texture. And for real complexity, the middle of the building folded in slightly, like a crease on a blanket. The tops and bottom had similar folds. Little balconies jutted out, almost hidden against the wall, a simple semicircle of glass with an identical cover above it. There were utterly transparent railings on the balcony, but no one could see them. And the top ceiling, bizarrely, had green hills that belonged somewhere in New Zealand.

The parking lot was flat tan cobblestone, with little rows of flowers lining out a path to the front. There was no visible door, only a flat wall with guards. Then, once the wall sensed a body, two glass doors would "appear" and slid open.

The lobby was a dome combined with a long hallway. The glass top (which didn't even appear on the buildings' exterior) had the geometric diamond shape printed over it, all the pieces fitting together like in a puzzle. Detailed paintings of scenes in history adorned the tops of the walls in a long mural. At the end of the hallway, above the wide reception, there was a picture on Athena on a glimmering silk tapestry. She looked as regal as the Queen of the World, her famous calculating gaze that displayed endless intelligence captured perfectly.

Annabeth was still staring at the tapestry as she got to the reception. The lady sitting there had frizzy hair in an impossibly neat bun, sliver-rimmed glasses, and a white designer pantsuit. Her face was beautiful in sharp angles and strictness. Her posture stiffened the tiniest bit at Annabeth's arrival, but otherwise the receptionist didn't acknowledge her.

She cleared her throat and place her palms on the slivery-white marble counter. "Annabeth Chase," she announced with an air of importance. She winced when she came out sounding like some radio announcer, minus the cheesiness.

The lady flashed her a quick look and returned to her computer.

Annabeth sighed. "Tell Athena that Annabeth would like to see her. Daughter of Fredrick," she added as an afterthought.

The receptionist's gleaming emerald eyes darted up to her at the word "Athena" before ignoring her again.

She sighed, loudly. The people around her would politely pat her cheek or stiffly hug her when she was small and wandering around, but now their professional displays of affection were completely gone. Then again, a lot of the people here at Athena Virtuosity Co. were probably around the same age as she was then. So her chances of getting attention were none.

"Can you please call her and tell her that her daughter is here, Kyra," Annabeth said after reading the gold name tag. Figures that even the receptionist would have an awesome name.

Kyra's eyes flickered across her face. Annabeth tried to mimic Athena's usual unforgiving expression, which she luckily possessed. She even held out her finger and said, "You can take a blood test."

Kyra may have extremely subtly rolled her eyes. "List your birthday, please. And name of father."

"Uh, July 12, 1994. Fredrick Chase." Annabeth wouldn't be surprised if that was the only information about her in Athena's brain, along with her name.

The lady rapped the counter with her knuckles. "Take elevator eight onto the five hundredth floor. Are you motion sick?"

"Not really."

"Well, there are pills in a container inside the elevator." Kyra lifted her chin slightly, and Annabeth got the feeling it was a dismissal.

She shuffled towards the eight elevator with other well-dressed, smart-looking people. The stone doors were painted with intricate owls roosting in tree branches. The whole painting was in white, but still it looked seriously real. The doors opened without sound, and they got into the huge room. The walls were partial mirrors, and there were little glass containers with pills inside. Annabeth ignored them at first, but when the elevator began surging upwards and the numbers changed in a blur, she quickly swallowed one. Her head cleared immediately and her blood pressure didn't bother her at all.

The elevator glided to a stop, and they emerged on the fifth hundredth floor. The ground was covered by an expansive Persian carpet, and the ceiling was glass. Annabeth realized it was actually faintly stained so the light streaming through would be covered. The crowd walked through an actual wall of olive trees planted together, seamlessly disappearing from one end to another. Annabeth hesitantly followed them, and emerged through it without touching any wood at all. She squinted at it for a long while before noticing a few gears at the bottom, in the dirt. Clever.

When she turned around from the wall, her breath caught in her throat. In front of her was a life-sized replica of the Pantheon in Greece, but complete, with a shiny finish, like it was just built. The building material, Annabeth reckoned, was shipped from the same area as the original. Real grass spread out around it, so green they burned on the inside of her eyelids, and the air smelled faintly of olives. She headed inside to find an altered Pallas Athena. The statue appeared like Athena (her mother, of course) in traditional Greek armor instead of a dress. The carving was more skilled and realistic than the first statue, since the times were different. More jewels glittered on her instead of simply gold. Nike was the same as before.

The crowd streamed around the statue without so much of as a look. Annabeth followed after them to an imposingly tall oak door. Three guards stood on either side of it. And a golden owl, exactly like the one on the Athenian coins, was carved onto it.

Annabeth was right. The valet's jaw did drop when he saw Percy's ancient and beat-up Ford truck. He stared at the car keys in confusion and slowly climbed inside. They both held in laughs as they walked into the restaurant.

It was a pretty stunning place, totally worth the five-minute argument Annabeth had with her mother. (Five minutes with the CEO of Athena Virtuosity Co. was like five centuries.) She only needed to announce the paid dinner as an early birthday present and spent the rest of the argument tiptoeing around Percy and the fact that this dinner was a date. Athena got all the details at the end, of course.

Like many fancy restaurants, it was very dark, with only tall candles in the middle of each table and a few small lightbulbs, cupped in glass, hanging far above the room. Violin played soothingly in the corner, and the place smelled like lavender and cologne.

Percy offered her his arm, and even though his rented tux was a bit itchy, Annabeth didn't mind. She tucked her arm under his and grinned at him. His eyes danced in excitement. The hostess led them to a seat in the back. Annabeth set her clutch purse on the table, copying the other women.

Percy leaned in. The candle sent shadows across his handsome features. His perfect teeth shone in the dark. "Wow, this place is incredible. A bit stuck-up, but we all prepared for that."

Annabeth laughed, accepting the wine list from the waiter. "Good thing we did." She switched to a stage whisper. "Look at the service here. They don't get distracted or hold up too long or make goo-goo eyes at their boyfriend in the kitchen."

Percy snickered. "Wow, this place is like a miracle."

They both scanned the wine list, only recognizing the term Merlot from Mr. D, who shipped drinks to Grace's Pizza Place. They got new menus, pretty much the size of their torsos.

Percy whistled as he looked at a few of the dishes. "Dude, this appetizer costs like a hundred dollars for each word, and there are a _load_ of words."

Annabeth grinned. "I know what you mean. I feel out of breath just by looking at this."

They finally decided on some simple steak. For dessert, they went all out with a caramelized and shredded and sewed together and iced pie along with some sort of poached fruit tart based on a cupcake. Or something like that.

When the food arrived and they had their Merlot poured, easy conversation flowed from them. But Annabeth started noticing how they were louder than the other tables, and how their conversation topics (catching Jason weight-lifting at the gym, setting Leo's socks on fire, blowing dishwashing bubbles into Thalia's face) were totally out of place. The waiter standing by them had a very terrified expression.

When Percy told her a hilarious story about when his huge mastiff, Mrs. O'Leary saw a squirrel and plowed into Frank like he was a twig, they both started laughing raucously. Then the annoyed stares in their direction started.

And then when Annabeth was slicing her steak and she nudged it into her mash potato tower, the tip flew off and landed on Percy's nose. They started laughing again, and then Annabeth wiped it off and kissed his nose. Before she knew it, they were making out.

Every time Percy's fingers touched her bare shoulders, tingles went down her spine. Her fingers threaded deeper and deeper in his hair, while her other hand ran down his smooth and muscled back. Their lips moved slowly, more of a ballroom dance than tap dancing. It was a gentle kiss, completely different from yesterday, and once they broke apart Percy stroked her cheek. "You're really beautiful, Annabeth," he murmured.

Annabeth lit up inside. She knew right then that this dinner was a good idea.

Then Percy's sleeve bumped his plate, smearing sauce over his elbow, and they both burst out laughing. It died down quickly, though, because the sound echoed harshly in the silence of the room.

They lowered their heads and decided to whisper.

"Annabeth, I feel like this a completely different planet from the pizzeria," he hissed. "I mean, even this candle has better class than us. Just look at it!"

"Yeah, it looks like the Count of candles."

Percy started chuckling, and realizing his mistake, toned his laughter down to a whisper, but it sounded really stupid that way. Annabeth smirked. "You sound like you're trying to be private because you heard someone's really embarrassing secret."

"Yeah? And what would that be? Let me guess, you actually left your dirty clothes on the floor once?" He gasped dramatically, causing several waiters to look over, alarmed.

Annabeth frowned. "What? No! Why would I ever do that?"

He snickered. "Yeah, that is so absurd that no one does it. So, did you spill something on yourself before? Oh wait, you did. Because you were so startled by how incredible and hot I was you made your apron blue."

She rolled her eyes. "No, I was simply focused, and whenever you appear that state will fail to exist. Have you even concentrated on something for a second of your life?"

"Yes. And, Bethie, did you just call me distracting?"

She gaped. Okay, big, big mistake. He was joking, of course, but unfortunately she thought so deep inside. "No! I said your annoyingness and lack of focus—" she started sputtering. She took a few deep breaths to get her brain awake. "Actually, yes. You're distracting because of how idiotic you are."

He leaned in, pouting. "Actually," he mimicked her, "I'm pretty sure it's because of my good looks."

Annabeth swatted him away. "Keep dreaming, Jackson."

"Oh, I will. And in those dreams you will faint into my arms and wake up and gaze into my eyes and say, 'Oh, Percy, save me!'" He said those words in a breathy falsetto so high it caused his voice to break repeatedly.

She swatted him harder. "I feel like you would fail to catch me because of your lack of heroism. And if I did speak like that you are safe to assume I was kidnapped by aliens and replaced by a fake human chipmunk experiment."

"I was going for dolphin, Annabeth." He waved his fork. "Should've been obvious."

Annabeth face-palmed a bit too hard. "I am regretting his dinner already."

He took her hand and stretched his sea-colored eyes wide open. "Come on Annabeth," he whined adorably. "This is incredibly romantic."

His lower lip was jutting out and Annabeth couldn't stop staring at it while anticipation shook her sternum. She bit the inside of her cheek to get herself to focus. "Yeah, that dolphin sounds like a pretty great guy."

"Hello? Extremely hot guy sitting here?" Percy exclaimed.

Annabeth laughed. "I'll believe it when I see it." When he paused, face impassive, a blush rose to her cheeks. Was it that obvious that she agreed with him whole-heartedly?

Then he smirked. "Blushing, Bethie?"

She buried her face in her hands. "What?"

"Oh, you so are."

"No!" Her voice, maddeningly, heightened to a shriek.

Percy knew her too well. He reached for her fingers, so gently Annabeth immediately gave in to the chivalry, and then he grinned mischievously. "See, that totally a blush," he announced.

She yanked her hands from his with a loud, "Hey!"

Then someone coughed, loudly. They spun around to see a stern-looking man. He told them, in the politest way possible, to be quiet. Both had reddened cheeks when they nodded and looked down.

So they went back to the whisper thing. Whenever Percy got too loud, she kicked his foot. They were doing pretty well until dessert came up.

Percy's dessert plate came with an extra spoon, and his eyes lit up. When the waitress made a move to take his other one, he placed a hand on her arm and told her to leave it. With a light blush on her butterscotch-colored cheeks, she withdrew her arm and hurried away.

Annabeth was still glaring off in the direction the waitress went off when Percy poked her to get her attention. "I have a great idea!" he exclaimed. "You know the Spoon Game?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Nope."

He very carefully picked up his spoon, wiped it with his thumb, and placed it on his nose. It hung there without problem. He smiled and talked around the handle. "But there's a deluxe level. It's pretty much legendary, but two people have achieved it before." He cleaned his other spoon, and very carefully, placed it on top of the other. They both clattered to the ground.

Annabeth sat back and folded her arms, unimpressed.

Percy tried again and again, and then his attempts became hilarious. He lifted his nose up, like the snobs sitting beside them, and the spoon actually stuck on. "Must be because of its expensive lineage," he told her with a smile that caused the spoons to fall. It didn't work again. He even tried licking the two spoons, but they just slipped. He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered random chants under his breath, but no luck. Finally, a million tries later, with their desserts both forgotten, the second spoon stayed. It was completely still. Percy's eyes widened into two huge pools of green, so centered onto the spoon. Even the waiter beside them gasped.

Percy drew in a shaky breath Annabeth herself was holding her breath. Her internal timer counted five seconds. Six. Seven.

Just when her lungs felt a tiny bit strained, Percy's expression twitched uncontrollably. The spoon clattered onto the table, and his shoulders sank in disappointment. "I can't hold still for that long!" he complained. He looked so self-righteous and angry that Annabeth couldn't help laughing. He joined in, saying, "Actually, that was probably my personal record of staying still. Wow."

"Seriously, seven seconds?"

"So what? What's yours?"

"Um, five."

They started laughing again. They were teasing each other about how ADHD would probably trip each other so badly in the future ("So, what if you climbing a tree and you see a blue scarf on a bench and you literally drop from the tree…..") and laughing so hard, Annabeth felt tears flowing down her cheeks when someone coughed really loudly. The stern man from before ordered them outside.

Annabeth called, "Bill's on Athena!" as they headed out the doorway and smirked at the hostess' bewildered expression.

"Well, mission complete," Percy told her as they were on the road. "We acted like total kids."

"Percy, you are a kid." She grabbed the wheel for him as he tried to hit her.

Once they settled down, Percy flashed her a troublemaker grin in the rearview mirror. "You know what's the actual opposite of pizza?"

An hour and a half later, they were both at Percy's apartment, and he was eagerly chatting to the delivery guy while taking white paper containers from him. He said goodbye and joined Annabeth on the couch, setting the Chinese takeout on the coffee table.

"Dig in, malady." He switched on _The Little Mermaid_.

She reached for the chopsticks before her little crystal bracelet and neatly painted nails caught her eye. "Wait. If we dressed up for the fancy dinner, shouldn't we wear something special for this too?"

So they dug out two pairs of sweats from Percy's drawers and wiped off all their hair gel/makeup. Annabeth carefully folded her strapless midnight blue dress and tucked it in the purse, reminding herself to thank Piper for it later. She totally looked stunning in it, but wearing Percy's salt-smelling sweats made her happiest.

Then they settled together on the couch, a feast of Chinese food set out before them, and watched Ariel fall in love with someone who could never be hers.

 **Okay that's it. This is one of my favorite chapters. Not as funny as I wanted it to be, but I don't have a whole lot of humor skills. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it as much as me. Also, I didn't get too carried away with describing Athena's company, right? I just love creating beautiful and expensive places. Heh.**

 **Flippityflop: Wow. I didn't put a whole lot of thinking into that sentence, and I would've expected anyone to pay attention to it. I'm glad you found it interesting. Thanks. And that beginning was spontaneous, but I think it turned out well. Thanks again.**

 **Lilie0107: They're cute? I thought they were awkward and confused. Jk. I was working towards that, so thanks. And you seriously read the A/Ns? How? Why? I'm going to try to make them interesting from now on.**

 **Hdgy: Cool! Thanks for taking time to review. And awesome name. It reminds me of Hedge and edgy. But no, Coach Hedge is not edgy.**

 **Au revoir,**

 **Pride-and-loyalty**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi, people, this is the last chapter! I've had a great time on this journey, writing through all of this. Honestly, the original theme was supposed to be about getting over heartbreak, but I usually have trouble sticking to the original themes, so now it's mostly fluffy. Eh, what can you expect from a fanfic.**

 **Though, I did sort of cover heartbreak, right? First few chapters. Either way, I think this is still a pretty realistic and nice story.**

 **Enjoy!**

Annabeth

She tugged up her cardigan sleeves and followed with Percy's windbreaker. He glanced down and frowned. "What are you doing, Annabeth?"

"Very obviously our ice cream is going to drip, and I don't want you to have sticky sleeves." She gestured to a rapidly melting scoop of raspberry sherbet a toddler beside them was holding.

Percy crossed his arms. "Thanks, Mom."

Annabeth elbowed his side. "Well, sorry, but you're not capable of handling some things by yourself."

He scoffed loudly. "Um, I am totally capable of doing stuff like that myself."

"Yeah? Then can you not hold up the line?"

Percy realized they were right in front of the counter. He sheepishly apologized to the people behind them and studied the menu. "Do you guys have anything blue?"

The guy at the register raised a bushy eyebrow. He was scrawny and just developing a wispy mustache, so the sailing cap and whale t-shirt uniform looked way too big and ridiculous on him. He coughed and studied the glass display. "Yep. The blueberry ice cream, the whale popsicle, the dolphin popsicle–"

Annabeth held up a hand, cutting him short. "Percy, can't you see?" She hissed to him. "We're at an ocean-themed ice cream parlor. There's a lot of blue."

Percy bit his lip, and his forehead wrinkled in concentration. "The dolphin popsicle," he decided after five minutes or so.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "A scoop of mint, please. Medium-sized cone."

The whole line sighed in relief when their ice cream was handed over.

They were heading down the large lobby with a statue of a shark when Percy's eyes lit up. "The gift shop!"

Annabeth shook her head. "No way. Let's go there after walking around."

"Why? It's not like I spend the whole morning there. Besides, I'm sure you'll find something you'd like."

She rolled her eyes again. "Maybe. But I'm willing to bet that you'll want a giant whale or sea turtle toy, and then you have to carry it everywhere. Besides, what it you drip ice cream on it?" Annabeth wiped a streak of melted blueberry from his hand and sucked her finger.

Percy made a face at her. "Annabeth, really?"

"What?"

"You just sucked your finger! Isn't that supposed to be childish? Am I growing on you?"

Annabeth flushed and shoved him. "No, you're not. I was-I wasn't think-argh! You are not growing on me!"

Percy teased her until she dragged him into the aquarium. Percy's eyes glowed as he spotted the huge fish tank that took up a whole wall. He rushed over, beaming at the long, colorful fish.

His enthusiasm was infectious, so Annabeth trailed behind him and also smiled into the tank. Once Percy was done admiring them, he wandered off to the next closest tank, still holding Annabeth's hand and leading her around. They both _wowed_ in sync at the jellyfish, bubbling upwards, and tentatively touched the surface of the electric eel tank. Percy claimed that he felt a current, but Annabeth just rolled her eyes. There was a very small glass tank, small enough to hold a classroom pet, with little seahorses inside. Percy cooed at them and obviously wanted to pick up the tank and carry it home. He waved at the dolphins and squatted down so he could be eye-to-eye with a stingray. The stingray gave him a look, like: _little punk_ and flapped off. But Percy wasn't deterred and raced over to the miniature tropical fish area.

When they entered the baby shark petting area, Percy disappeared and reappeared by the edge of the little pool while Annabeth slowly followed behind. Her boyfriend was already enthusiastically washing his hands and promising to the worker that he would be gentle while she peered into the pool. The little dappled sharks lazily glided over the sandy floor, swimming in aimless directions in anticipation for their feeding time.

Suddenly Percy, with his newly soap-scented hands, gripped her forearm. "Annabeth, aren't you going to do it?"

She shook her head. "Nope, we're just here for you. I'm good."

He raised an eyebrow. "Scared of being bit, Beth?"

Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose. That was the oldest trick in the book. Unfortunately, it worked, because there was no way she was going to let her partner think she was a coward. She marched over to the sink. "Not at all, Jackson. I was planning on taking pictures of you getting overexcited and using them as blackmail."

"What? Annabeth!"

She dried her hands and smirked. "Kidding. There is no reason I would ever need to blackmail you. Unless….the worlds' water all ran dry and you're hoarding your warehouse full of Blue Coke."

Percy crossed his arms. "I don't have a warehouse. It's more of a barn. And if there's no water I'm not going to share. Do you know how many bottles I need to drink every day to stay _alive_?"

Annabeth thought for a bit. "Twenty thousand?"

"No! More like fifty."

"Unbelievable." She went over to the pool and dipped a finger in, checking the temperature. Percy followed and stood right by her so that their sides touched. She felt her breath hitch a little, even after all this time, but she slowed her heartbeat and concentrated on the small sharks.

When one swam by she lightly touched the top of its head. It moved ahead without slowing. But when Percy grazed its fin, it stopped and hovered by his hand. He let out a delighted laugh and stroked its back.

Annabeth pouted behind his back. Of course sea animals would love Percy. No, cross that out. Of course _every living thing_ would love Percy.

Once they greeted every single shark in the pool, Annabeth discovered a purple starfish. She moved to touch it, with Percy right behind her. Their hands brushed, and all of a sudden Percy's fingers wrapped around hers. Their combined hands lightly touched the starfish.

Grinning, Annabeth shifted her fingers so they were properly holding hands under the water. Percy leaned it with a vibrant smile and kissed her cheek. Giddiness flared through her, and she gently brushed her lips to his collarbone. His eyes were pinned right on hers, so intense Annabeth felt her back stiffening. She could barely make out anything in those twin circles of sea, but she saw the telltale glitter of excitement and longing. She moved in, her eyes trained on him, when a little shark brushed against their hands. They both jumped.

Still, they smiled at each other, fingers tightly weaved together, until Annabeth's calves ached from standing in the same place for so long. Percy noticed with a frown and he gently lifted their hands from the water. They split up to each get a towel, but once their dried off, Percy's right hand found Annabeth's left, and they continued out in the aquarium hand-in-hand.

Percy explored every single fish tank in the place. Annabeth found herself copying him, grinning at the fish, tapping on the tank in irregular patterns, or tracing their paths on the glass. They watched the dolphin feeding with maybe a little too much enthusiasm before entering the front lobby again.

"Well, it's time we hit the gift shop, Bethie." He dodged her smack at the nickname and raced off.

Percy, true to Annabeth's prediction, got ginormous toys. He found an arctic seal longer than his torso and a blue whale around the size of the actual animal. He also took a giant sea turtle that was probably half the size of his bed. But he didn't stop there. He also got a sizable pile of the medium-sized toys along with a plethora of wood or plastic keychains.

Annabeth picked a tiny orca keychain for her key ring and a sea glass bracelet. At Percy's insisting, she got a slivery-blue beta fish toy the size of her palm.

The cashier offered them huge paper bags without batting an eye.

While they were driving home, Percy snuggled with all his toys and named them. The blue wall was "Spots," the arctic seal was "Whiskers," and the sea turtle was "Shelly." He wanted to name it Shell, but Annabeth put her hand down there.

When they arrived at his apartment to drop him off, Percy nagged at her to hug Whiskers. Annabeth made a dubious face, but he snuggled the seal in her arms and made his signature puppy dog face and Annabeth couldn't help but hug Whiskers tight.

With a huge victorious grin, Percy headed into the building, dragging giant bags the size of him and blowing a kiss to Annabeth.

 _Five months later_

Percy

He linked his arm in Annabeth's and sighed. "Beth? Are you done?"

"I want to finish my job, okay?" She nudged him away and continued with grilling her peppers and mushrooms.

"We get to leave work early!" he exclaimed. "Why are you still doing this stuff?!"

Hazel came over and smirked at him. "That's what you get for dating such a focused a hardworking girl."

Percy groaned and leaned against the counter. "Hazel, I do not need to hear that. I already know how difficult she can be all of the time."

Annabeth jabbed him hard in the ribs. "Um, hello? I had to carry you to the car twice because you walked into a road sign!"

Hazel covered her mouth to hide her chuckles. "Alright, you two. No need for squabbling. Annabeth, you get an early leave. You should go." She touched Percy's shoulder with a knowing grin and hurried off.

"Both of you?" Annabeth flipped a pepper. "Fine. Just let me finish these. I can't just turn the grill off."

So Percy patiently waited for her, stealing some of Leo's taco sauce and finishing a bottle of Blue Coke as she finished the veggies. Once they were all piled onto a plate, Percy raced over, tossed his bottle in the recycling bin, and dragged Annabeth through the restaurant.

These days, the whole place looked different. Annabeth rushed in on a rainy day, examined the room, and started scribbling away on her sketchbook. She lobbed a bit more money from her apparently very successful mom and added some changes. The restaurant itself got a second floor for storage and for napping (Leo's suggestion). The roof got a sleek glass floor, with little ridges for planting a garden. There was even a little canopy with wooden lounge chairs. The restaurant's inside was pretty different too. The crackly plaster walls were now thick brick ones. They got smooth, round oak dining tables with cushioned chairs encircling them. The little center statues were still kept, of course, they were a must. The carpeting was a patchwork of colors that fit their slight mish-and-mash theme without being too outrageous. Surprisingly, Rachel was an artist, and her paintings, along with Hazel's works, were hung all over the walls with narrow white frames. Large, battery-powered lanterns replaced the lightbulbs, up on the walls beside the tables or on the ceiling. Reyna got a new desk, made of "soft stone" according to Annabeth, with a glass top and an incredible carving of the logo on the front. She had a small wall behind her, just slightly longer than her desk, separating her from the dining tables. The windows were enlarged, and they had extra-large sills for Katie and Miranda's plants. There was even extra space for their watering cans and gardening tools. As for the fire escape, they got it fixed so that it wasn't rusty anymore, with gleaming metal rails and steps. The final touch was a group picture they took in front of the restaurant, all in their uniforms, holding a couple of pizzas, and goofing off. It was enlarged and hung right about Reyna's head.

Once they got outside and were driving off the Percy's beat-down Toyota, Annabeth leaned against her window and glanced over at him. "Alright, what are we doing? Seriously, do you need to surprise me every time?"

Percy smiled cheekily. "This is the last time, I promise. I'll give you a clue though: it's kind of far away, off to the east, and my favorite place ever."

Annabeth tapped her lip, thinking. "The grocery store with Blue Coke? Real romantic, Perce."

He made a face at her. "Seriously? That's your best guess?"

"No, I was joking! Is it that really big swimming pool?"

"Really close. That's second favorite."

She ran her hands through her hair. "Um, your old house with your mom?"

"Okay, that's also really close."

"Your current home?"

"No way, it smells like dirty laundry."

"Okay, you've never brought that place up before. So I have no idea."

Percy grinned at her. "That's fine. We're close." He drove for a little bit and parked in a mostly deserted stretch of pavement. They went down the lot and Annabeth gasped. In front of them was a small section of beach. The sand was dark, and the waves were low and frothy, but it was still a really incredible view.

"I should've guessed!" Annabeth complained to herself while Percy led her down the beach. The sand was damp, sticking to the soles of their feet, but neither of them stopped grinning. He tugged her off to the side and unfolded two lounge chairs he carried from his car. They plopped down on them and stretched their faces to the sun.

"This is nice, Percy," she murmured over to him.

He took her hand. "Yep."

"You seriously have been holding out on me, though."

"Well, how else would this place stay private?"

Percy drove Annabeth home later so she could get her swimsuit, and they splashed around the whole morning. He even got her to do laps with him, even though the waves jostled them around. Finally they got tired, and Percy lifted Annabeth to the sand and flopped down. She settled comfortably in his arms.

"Well?"

"What?"

"Got anything else in mind?"

He looked over at her with a smirk. "Yeah." His hand captured her cheek and soon their lips met. It was a gentle, short kiss and they slowly broke apart.

Heart thumping, he pulled them both to standing. "I've been waiting for this for so long, Annabeth. I know this is too soon, and I'm rushing into this, but I want this so bad. You make me feel like I could never, ever be alone again. And you're someone I trust my life with. So," he got down on one knee. Annabeth's lips spun into an "o". "Annabeth Chase, will you marry me and complete both of our lives?"

With a swallow, he took out a box from his pocket. Inside was an elegant sliver ring with little crystals studding the band and a small heart-shaped diamond. He watched her breath slow.

Annabeth tugged him upright and stood up on her toes to meet his lips. When they pulled apart, Annabeth's face split into to a huge, ear-to-ear grin. "Yes, Percy Jackson. Yes."

Annabeth

Annabeth nervously clutched her bouquet, inhaling the scent of lavender and lilies and irises, hoping they'd calm her nerves.

The top deck gleamed in the sunlight. Everyone was standing in their formal clothes, and a loose white rug was arranged in the middle of them. A cutesy balloon arch hung above the altar. All in all, it was a very simple occasion.

Percy, dressed in a form-fitting tux, glanced over at the cabin. He looked pretty nervous too. But Annabeth lifted her chin so he could see her through the window. A faint smile broke out on his lips. When the preacher held out his hand, Annabeth finally smiled back.

She pushed open the cabin doors to wedding music. Her bridesmaids trailed behind her silently, and the flower girls threw confetti and flower petals onto her dress. The guest blew kisses and shouted congrats and grinned hugely as she made her way down the aisle.

Finally she stopped in front of Percy. He smiled affectionately down at her, and Annabeth felt her heart warm inside her.

"You look great," he whispered.

"You too."

"Perseus Jackson, do you take Annabeth Chase as your rightful wife?"

"I do." His voice was light, like he was really happy and amused, not formal at all. Percy simply wasn't formal.

"Annabeth Chase, do you take Perseus Jackson as your rightful husband?"

She stilled her emotions to stutter out an "I do."

Their rings were slipped on, and then the preacher stepped back with a grin. Percy's arms wrapped around Annabeth's waist and tugged her closer to him. She braced her arms on his shoulders, stood on tiptoe, and pressed her lips to his.

Happiness flared inside her like fireworks. She felt her heart speeding up and everything disappearing from her mind except for _Percy_ , _Percy,_ _Percy._

When they broke off, too soon, she thought, Percy's cheeks were adorably flushed and his arms were still steady around her. She winked and he stepped away, tugging off his tux jacket. Everyone stared at them in confusion as Annabeth zipped her long, simple dress and Percy shook off his dress shoes. Within seconds a pile of fancy clothes lay beside them and they were both in swimsuits. Annabeth was in a frilly white one-piece, while Percy had black swimming trunks, to fit the theme. They waved at their friends and family and jumped off the boat's edge, hands entwined.

Annabeth grinned at her husband as they rushed toward the water. "I love you," she said right before they crashed into the waves.

 **Alright, that's a wrap!**

 **Lilie0107: You are the nicest ever! Thank you! I'll try to not blabber so much then.**

 **AliaPace-Percabeth: Heh. I feel that all the time too.**

 **Meistar: Really? That doesn't sound creepy to me. But yeah, your wish is granted!**

 **DDaughterofAthena: Okay, I can't manage a single thing. Is it on now? I tried my best. And thanks for the compliment. I definitely did work hard (kinda).**

 **Guest: You know some actually suggested the same thing some time ago. So I followed both of your suggestions. It's a great idea though. I didn't exactly have a lot of wiggle room, because, well, how many ways can you even shape a small-town pizza store so this is mostly interior design. *cough* And um, sorry, I won't actually keep this up since it's the last chapter, but maybe there'll be a sequel.**

 **So guys, if you think this story is too short, I'll write a sequel. And of course, this other story is coming out soon. If you guys have been around since I first started out, you'll know that it's a rewrite for Betrothed to the Wrong Person. Yeah, that was one sucky store.**

 **Anyway, so yeah. I had tons of fun writing this and reading your reviews. I hoped you actually enjoyed each chapter. I'm going to miss this story.**

 **Au revior,**

 **Pride-and-loyalty**


End file.
